Kingdom Hearts: Trial of the Syndicate
by Agent Baron
Summary: A canon retelling of the original Kingdom Hearts story with some influence from the Baron Syndicate! Baron Von Stupor's home is destroyed, and as its survivors venture to find out what happened, they find themselves in the midst of an epic struggle!
1. Prologue

"Chapter 1: Prologue"

_By: Agent Baron_

It was an average busy day inside Baron Syndicate headquarters. Oompa-Loompas busily worked on the company's latest line of products, and their two leaders tended to their own duties. Baron Von Stupor coded their website's main page while Baron Von Poorly Spelled Vengence took care of the formalities with a retail company. Ever-diligent Cats watched the Maury show in the break room.

A muscle-bound man, known to most only as Karnage strolled past the doorway and peered in to see the space-age machination sprawled across the couch, a bag of chips at his side. The man wore generic jeans and a pitch black sleeveless shirt. Black, leather gloves and a black bandanna decorated his hands and head, respectively. He peered in the doorway and spotted Cats.

Cats wore what appeared to be a dark gray, turtle necked long-sleeve shirt with a zipper fastener. Around him billowed a magenta-colored cloth. He glanced upward at the man for a brief moment and returned to his show. His wintergreen-colored skin showed forth, only being outmatched in obviousness by his cylinder-shaped, deep green hairdo.

"What's this one about?" Karnage asked.

"It being more paternity test," Cats replied in his usual monotoned voice and exceptionally poor grammar.

"Again? They do that quite a bit, I noticed."

"Yeah, but being interesting."

"I guess. It gets old, though. Anyways, why do you keep coming back here?"

Cats looked up at him cautiously. "...Nothing to do better?"

"Well, I'm sure you're familiar with my orders to remove you from the building on sight, right?"

"I not stay just little longer?"

"Come here."

Cats jumped up and backed toward the television, grabbing his bag of chips in the process. Eating a few, he looked back and forth, nervous.

"There's no other exit here, Cats. You're gonna have to go through me," Karnage told him.

Cats popped another large chip in his mouth and threw the bag at Karnage. Karnage instinctively put his arms up to block the projectile as Cats attempted to break past him. Karnage flipped around and caught him by the arm and jerked him closer as Cats struggled to pull away.

"Letting go! Letting go!" Cats yelled at him.

"Stop wiggling and this won't be as painful!" Karnage ordered in reply.

"I not wiggle, I struggle!"

Cats pounded on Karnage's hand with his fist, but to no avail. Karnage took his free hand and grabbed Cats by his belt buckle and began his trip toward the exit. In the elevator, Cats became more compliant.

"Why don't you find a job?" Karnage asked.

"That not being your business," Cats replied.

"Hey, don't get mad at me, I'm _doing_ my job. I'm not loafing around here, eating their food and using their facilities."

"Why you not going Nightmare Von Stupor?"

"Because Nightmare just _got_ kicked out of here twenty minutes ago!"

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Cats again tried to run, but Karnage caught him by the scuff of his neck. Again grabbing his belt buckle, he dragged Cats to the front door and threw him out.

Cats landed on the concrete with a thud. Shortly after, he saw Smileynator, the company's security robot, toss out Sarah, another HQ infiltrator.

"You have time?" Cats asked her.

"I managed about an hour this time," she replied.

"New record, you doing good job!"

"All I have to do is stay true to what my heart is telling me. I won't give up! I have to remind my dear Vengie how much he really cares about me! Then we can truly be together!"

"Vengie? Him Vengence?"

"I call him Vengie."

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

Meanwhile, Nightmare Von Stupor had engaged in a game of Rummy against Crazy Joe, one of the more unique Oompa-Loompa employees.

"Ee- hee-hee-hee!" cackled Crazy Joe. "Yer still havin' some trouble, ain't 'cha!"

"Oh come on, I'm just kinda skunked for cards here," Nightmare Von Stupor replied. "Maybe if you'd put down something I could _use..._"

Nightmare Von Stupor bore striking resemblance to Baron Von Stupor, the only difference being that as per his namesake, he is a nightmare creature from another realm. Because he bears the form of his host's worst fear, he shares the form of Baron Von Stupor, except with a mask that actually functions as his face; this creating an eerie effect. By an incident in the past, his kind was allowed to escape into this realm of existence and he now acts as a moocher amongst the Baron Syndicate.

"Ahm tellin' ya, ah've gotten betta since last time!" Crazy Joe commented, discarding.

Slapping his hand down on the card Crazy Joe discarded, Nightmare whooped, "_That's_ the card I need! _Gin!_"

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

Marching down a hall, Manny, the Oompa-Loompa chief foreman, bumped into Smileynator.

"Ah, Smileynator. What's your status so far?" he asked the droid.

Smileynator is a robot modeled after a character in Baron Von Stupor's favorite comic book. Despite his technological inferiority to his namesake and a local glitch that causes him to obsess over lilacs, he is perfectly functional and as close to the real deal as the barons have thus tried to get.

"Squatters have been removed since a few minutes ago," the emotionless robot spoke in response. "Their typical pattern states we are free from Sarah for most of the day, as this is Sunday and she has school tomorrow. Nightmare will undoubtedly be back later, and Cats will likely stake out for a few more hours. The lilacs are past watering time."

Smileynator began to walk past Manny when he was called once more.

"My lilacs are past watering time, I cannot be kept any longer," he said to him.

Smileynator's single red eye flashed at Manny, and caused him to lose some nerve.

"...Right, then. That's all I need you for," Manny responded.

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

Baron Von Poorly Spelled Vengence, annoyed, slammed his fist on his desk, breaking another corner off of it.

"Damn it, Von Stupor, now look what you have made me do, all because you are so insistent on having potato-themed wallpaper in the break room!" Vengence berated him.

Baron Von Poorly Spelled Vengence is a well-toned, harsh, and moderately arrogant co-founder of the Baron Syndicate. He refuses to reveal his past to anyone, which leads to many mysteries about him, including his hatred of contractions, and his superhuman strength. He wears a red helmet with a very dark, tinted visor that covers the majority of his face, leaving only his mouth and the very tip of his nose visible. On him, he wears what he calls a cooling vest and around his neck is a jade green cape with an image of a white falcon in mid-flight carrying a light sword in its talons. He sports a pair of shorts that end just above his knees and a pair of long boots, which end just above.

"But vegetables are good for you!" pleaded Von Stupor, the second co-founder of the Baron Syndicate.

He wore white tennis shoes, blue jeans, and an orange T-shirt with a single blue stripe that stretched around his ribcage. Covering his face was a purple heart-shaped mask. It had huge, piercing, yellow eyes with spikes distributed decoratively around the edges. Around his neck he wore a large, slate gray colored coat fashioned like a cape, often referred to as his cope.

"_I do not care!_ Potato wallpaper should be the least of our concerns at the moment!" Vengence shouted back at him.

Just then, their red 'alert' lights began flashing, sirens blaring.

"I take it this is on top of the list?" Von Stupor asked.

"Yes, it is. Let us go!"

Vengence leapt over his desk and Von Stupor and dashed out of the door.


	2. The Darkness Approaches

"Chapter 2: The Darkness Approaches"

_By: Agent Baron_

"Vengence, wait for me! You are my frieeeeeeeend..." Vengence heard Von Stupor wailing from down the hall.

"I do not have time to wait for you when the headquarters is under attack!" he called back, not caring if Von Stupor heard him or not.

Looking at the elevator, he said to himself, "I am not waiting for this slow stravag. I prefer the emergency ladder anyway."

Flipping open the hatch to the emergency ladder, he began using only his arms to throw himself upward through the shaft. Bursting through the top, and into the hall of the main floor, he saw Baron Von Stupor standing in front of the elevator, the doors closing.

"How did you get here so fast?" he panted lightly.

"Elevator," Von Stupor replied, gesturing toward it.

Shaking his head, he continued out into the lobby, but seeing nothing. Still, the alarms bellowed.

"Karnage!" he called out. "Smileynator! Oompa-Loompas! Where are all of you!"

"Probably on break," Von Stupor commented. "I've been noticing some wavering work ethic around here-"

"Shut up, Von Stupor! We need to find everyone!"

Just then, dark shadows formed on the ground beneath them. Mysterious creatures began erupting from them, froming small, child-sized creatures with humanoid features. They were completely dark in color, save two glowing yellow eyes and had two antennae sprouting from their heads.

"What are these things!" cried Vengence in surprise.

"Are these creatures of the Baron Foundation?" Von Stupor pondered.

"It does not matter, we must defeat them!"

One jumped at Vengence, who merely punched it down. Von Stupor simply stood in surprise, looking around at these new enemies.

Vengence, noticing this, announced, "If you will not fight these things yourself, then I will make you fight them!"

As the shadows all dashed toward Vengence, he grabbed Von Stupor's head and started swinging it at them, slamming them with Von Stupor's mask. After three swings, Von Stupor pried himself from Vengence's grasp and dodged away from the creatures.

"I can do it, I get the picture!" he ranted. "You're gonna give me head rush, ya know!"

"_Now is not a good time to use contractions around me, Von Stupor!_"

The two friends then engaged into battle. Von Stupod danced around, easily swatting away at the enemies with his trusty flyswatter by parrying and dodging their undisciplined attacks while Vengence used his immense strangth to use the foes as weapons, knocking them into each other and pounding others into the ground.

Despite their clear advantage over their enemies, however, they simply would not stay down.

"I do not understand! I could clearly feel their heads caving in and yet they regain their form!" Vengence observed, astounded.

"'Tis as if they feel no pain!" Von Stupor said incredulously.

"Then we must beat them until they do!"

Vengence glanced toward the large glass doors and noticed Cats standing outside, watching casually.

"_You worthless freebirth, get in here and help!_" Vengence roared at him.

Smirking, Cats shrugged and mouthed to him, "Not allowed in."

Vengence scowled and returned to fighting the dark creatures. He suddenly noticed that there were more appearing.

"I think they tire of us holding them off so deftly!" Von Stupor mentioned.

Vengence heard, but did not respond. Looking back to Cats, he saw him noticing another mysterious enemy appearing behind him.

Cats turned back around and pounded on the door, yelling, "Let in! Let in! Let in!"

"You are not allowed!" Vengence shouted back, and fought the creatures still.

Their number increased until there were so many that they could not all be knocked away without first grabbing ahold of Vengence. Slowly the two barons became overwhelmed by the sheer number of dark creatures. As they began to feel themselves succumbing, a great light shone forth. Vengence could hear loud slashes and a light shone so brightly through his enshrouding darkness that he had to cover his eyes. When all was clear, the creatures were gone and Von Stupor held high above him a weapon shaped remarkably like a key.

"Where in the world did you get that, Von Stupor!" Vengence asked, flabbergasted.

"My ass, one would presume," he answered. "But truthfully, I have no stinking clue."

"Well apparently, that weapon seems to shun them, so let me use it. I am a much more adept fighter than you, so I should fare a better chance at vanquishing them."

Von Stupor obediently handed the weapon to Vengence. Upon grasping it, it immediately disappeared and reappeared in Von Stupor's hand.

"What the hell...?" Vengence murmured. "Give that to me!"

He grabbed the weapon forcefully this time, and again it teleported back to Von Stupor's hand.

"_Stop it!_" Vengence commanded and grabbed it again and again, it teleported to Von Stupor's hand..

"I'm not doing anything!"

"Then how is it doing this?"

"Perhaps only I can use it, but that does not matter! We have to find our friends!"

"For once, I agree with you. I can avoid these creatures easily. You just work on defeating them while I search for the others!"

"Right!"

Vengence then tore off for the upper floors of the building. Running up and down the halls, he desperately looked for others. Suddenly, he heard a cry from another room. Following the voice, he found Nightmare Von Stupor in the main floor break room.

Nightmare was cowering on a counch, kicking at three creatures approaching him.

"Do you know what these are! This is your kind of field!" Vengence asked him.

"If I knew, do you think I'd be kicking at the freaking things!" he shot back sarcastically.

Vengence grabbed the three creatures and threw them out the window, breaking the glass and grabbed Nightmare. Shoving him toward the door, he ordered Nightmare to run to the main doors and find Von Stupor.

"Go!" he reiterated to him, and shoved Nightmare toward the hall leading to the main doors, who obliged.

After wandering the halls a bit and flinging the creatures aside, a low rumble was felt throughout the building. Karnage came from around a corner and ran over to Vengence.

"There's a hole in the ceiling back there where I fell through fighting some of them things," he said, his eyebrows raised a bit.

"I think that can be forgiven for the moment," Vengence said to him. "Go to the main doors where Von Stupor is, he has a weapon that can hurt them."

"What kind of weapon is it?"

"I wish I knew. Get going!"

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

Von Stupor knelt down on one knee and took a quick breather.

"There is no end to them!" he panted to himself.

Nightmare came bolting down the stairs and saw Cats running around, outside, away from four creatures. After a quick chuckle, he noticed Von Stupor kneeling with more creatures approaching him. He ran over and kicked them all aside, but they simply got up and creeped ever closer.

"Dude, are you alright? What the heck is that?" he asked.

"I do not know... this weapon seems to be all that can hurt them, so fight on, I must! Keep them away from you as best as you can and I shall finish them!" Von Stupor replied.

"You can't fight good if you don't get up!" Nightmare insisted and hoisted Von Stupor up, who slew a few more. The torrent of creatures finally appeared to cease.

"I apologize... I am tired from fighting them all. Is Vengence near?"

"He's back... there," Nightmare replied, pointing to Karnage coming out of a nearby hall, closely followed by Vengence and Laura-Anne, a friend of Baron Von Stupor's.

Laura-Anne is a tomboy at nature, an army brat forced to move here, there, and everywhere with her father while she lived with him. She wore a white wifebeater and a pair of camouflage-colored pants along with a pair of brown boots. Her hair is a dark brown color, lightly frizzy, and kept at medium length, just above her shoulders.

Another rumble was felt throughout the building.

"The building's about to collapse, you guys!" Laura-Anne spouted at them.

"No... 'tis the world," Von Stupor commented.

"What?" Karnage asked him.

"Look," he answered, pointing outside. "The tree was shaking with the building. And that tree there has fallen over already. There are four creatures outside chasing Cats, and more are coming."

"He is right," Vengence agreed. "The entire world is under attack, and we cannot stop those creatures, even with our newfound weapon."

"What do we do, then? If we're doomed... what _can_ we do?" Nightmare wondered.

"We can only do what any brave clan warrior should. We must fight and go down in our _own blaze of glory!_" Vengence cried, and charged out the door, hitting Cats with it and knocking him down.

Von Stupor ran toward the hall and Laura-Anne called to him, "Stupor, where the hell do you think you're going?"

"I have to find Smileynator!" he called back. "I cannot leave without him!"

"Dude, he's just a robot! Come on!" Karnage called after him.

"One does not have to be living to be a friend!" Stupor replied and took off into the building.

"I hate philosophers," Karnage said, and chased after him, followed by Laura-Anne.

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

Vengence charged outside and began fighting the creatures using every ounce of strength he had. Hurling creatures left and right, he charged through the masses. He looked behind him and saw Cats on the ground, struggling to fend off two creatures that had gotten on top of him. He leapt over to Cats and threw them along with the remaining two away. Jerking Cats up, he said to the man, "You are a weakling. Where are the others."

"I caught up in moment," he said, gesturing toward the approaching creatures. "Didn't have chance of looking when you dummy jerk no letting in us!"

"...Us?"

"_ME!_"

Vengence grunted in acknowledgement and began to start off inside when he heard a familiar squeal.

"_Vengie, I'm so glad I found you! Please protect me from these awful creatures!_" she said, grappling Vengence in an embrace.

He looked down at her, panicked, and pried her off easily.

"I do not like you, why do you keep coming back!" he asked her. "Especially at a time like this, why did you not stay with your family or something like that!"

"Oh, Vengie... you're so caring, but... my house was destroyed and my family disappeared. I decided I would rather we spend our final moments together, seeing as we're meant to be, and all!"

"_I am not interested in couples, only couplings!_"

"Well, whatever a coupling is, why don't we just become one of those too, then? We don't have much time left, you know."

Vengence considered his options for a moment, then quickly shook his head.

"I am much too old for that with you. ...And there is not enough time," he told her, and walked into the building.

"Why? Why are you too old? What is a coupling, you never tell me!"

Cats chuckled at the conversation.

Vengence gritted his teeth and shoved Cats over.

"Do you want to 'become a coupling'? Go over there and sit behind the main lobby desk and wait for me to come back. When I return, we will 'become a coupling'... whatever that is."

She smiled brightly and went to the main desk and sat down behind it, curled in a ball.

Von Stupor then entered the lobby along with Smileynator, Laura-Anne, and Karnage.

"Let us leave!" commanded Vengence. "We are vulnerable inside the building!"

The group ran out of the building and began charging through countless creatures.

"They're weak, but they don't like to quit!" Karnage commented.

Suddenly, they stopped to see a great valley, enveloped in black, opaque mist.

"'Tis like it has been consumed by darkness!" Von Stupor exclaimed.

Just then, they heard an immense thud from behind them, causing them all to wobble from the ensuing rumble.

Turning, they saw a massive creature, humanoid in shape. It was about two and a half stories tall and sported many tentacles about its face. On its upper torso was a two dimensional cutout shaped like a heart, gleaming straight through its body.

"These creatures cannot be of this world!" Vengence cried aloud. "Nothing can survive with that much of it missing!"

"I must defeat it!" yelled Von Stupor, and charged it.

He struck it hard in its ankle with his mysterious weapon. The impact loosed a burst of light, which judging by its reaction, bothered it greatly. It lifted its foot up and attempted to step on Von Stupor, who dove out of the way. Holding out its hand, its hand began to glow with dark energy. Raising it high into the air, it brought its hand down to the ground with an earshattering boom and plunged it into the ground. Darkness engulfed the surrounding ground and more of the smaller creatures were produced.

"That thing must be the source of all the smaller creatures!" Vengence declared. "Defeat it, Von Stupor!"

"We'll help!" announced Karnage, stepping forward. He was halted by Vengence.

"You cannot interfere with his battle, as it is dishonorable to both him and the creature," Vengence told him.

"That creature hardly has a mind, if you can't tell!" Karnage argued.

"That and only his weapon can strike it down! You will only get in his way!"

Von Stupor swung his weapon with all his might and cleared all of the small creatures while the monstrous creature pulled its hand out of the ground. Capitalizing on this, Von Stupor leapt up and slapped its hand, erupting light around it. The monstrous creature reacted very violently, and swung its free hand at Von Stupor. Von Stupor took his weapon and held it in front of him, shoving it forward to impale the monstrous creature's free hand. This must have surprised it as it wobbled and dropped down to its knees, struggling to prop itself up. Von Stupor seized this opportunity to begin wailing on its head wildly.

"Notice something weird about today?" Nightmare calmly asked the others.

"What's that?" Laura-Anne asked him.

"It's night time... the stars are out and everything... and yet it's only three in the afternoon..."

Suddenly, large explosions were heard all around and Baron Von Stupor, along with the monstrous creature, Vengence, Laura-Anne, Nightmare, Karnage, Cats, and Smileynator were inhaled into a large dark portal in the sky.


	3. The Heartless

"Chapter 3: The Heartless"

_By: Agent Baron_

As everyone came to, they realized that they were no longer in Atlanta, Georgia. A dark town lay around them, a single street light illuminating the surrounding area, full of buildings adorned with lights and thriving with life. People walked to and through, each looking no more similar than the next.

"Where the heck did we wind up?" asked Nightmare Von Stupor, rubbing the side of his head.

"I don't think think we're in Kansas anymore," commented Laura-Anne.

"When were we ever, you foolish girl?" Vengence asked her, annoyed.

"It's an allusion, you doofus!" she snapped in reply. "You'd think someone your age would catch that!"

Vengence turned to shout back at her, but noticed a young girl on the top of a flight of stairs leading further into the city. She watched them, giggling ever slightly. She had jet black hair, with a white bandanna strapped across her forehead. She sported a green shirt and khaki shorts, supported by suspenders.

"You there!" Vengence addressed her. "What do you find so humorous about us?"

The girl stroked her chin and giggled, running off.

"Stupid child," he muttered to himself, and looked back at the others.

"Sign saying 'Traverse Town'," Cats mentioned to everyone, reading a nearby sign.

"Where the heck is Traverse Town, I've never even heard of that place..." Nightmare pondered.

"Y'all must be new here," called a voice from the stairwell.

Everyone looked up to notice a man standing at the top. He had gleaming blonde hair, sharpened to a point sticking up and a white shirt with dark-colored pants.

"We must be," Nightmare spoke in reply.

"C'mon with me, I'll explain what I can," he said, and walked off into a nearby store.

They all wandered up the stairs and into the store the man had ventured into. They saw him behind the counter.

"Are you the shop owner?" Vengence asked him.

"That I am, the name's Cid. You guys can call me Cid."

"That was redundant."

"It was a joke, you need to get yer helmet outta yer ass."

Vengence growled at him and Nightmare stepped in front of him, pushing him back.

"He's got a lot more than his helmet in there," he whispered.

"Yeah, I see a lot of 'em. This here's Traverse Town, where people wind up from their home world bein' destroyed. Not everyone gets here, only those that can survive their home world's destruction."

Karnage and Laura-Anne reared back in shock.

"Would there be others from our world?" Laura-Anne asked him.

"Could be. Y'all might be the only survivors fer all I know."

Vengence stroked his chin.

"If our world is destroyed, what is this one?" Vengence asked Cid.

"This here's Traverse Town if ya didn't read the sign out there. This whole town here's a world, but it's only yay big, if ya know what I mean. What makes matters worse is that the First District here is the only safe district. Them creatures are crawlin' all over Second and Third District."

"The little black things we saw at our world?" Nightmare asked.

"Yeah, that'd be them."

"How could those little black things destroy a world?"

"Ah, that I can't tell ya. Don't know, myself."

Laura-Anna clenched her fist tightly. "They destroyed my home... Why!"

"Hey there, missy... Important thing is ya got yer friends, right?"

"What about everyone else! Even those that weren't my friends didn't deserve to get taken like that! Besides, I don't see Baron Von Stupor with us..."

The rest suddenly stopped to look around and recieved a sudden epiphany: Baron Von Stupor was nowhere to be seen.

Vengence turned and rushed out the door of the building. He looked around, panicked, hoping to see his lost friend.

"_Baron Von Stuporrrrrrrrr!_" he roared in anguish.

"What?" a voice faintly replied.

Stopping to listen, he followed it to a structure sticking out of the ground. It was a large blue cylinder sticking out of the ground.

Suddenly, a grainy electronic voice spouted, "Send 10 postcards and get a prize!"

Looking inside, he saw two familiar white shoes and their feet sticking up. He punched a hole in the cylinder and tore it apart, Baron Von Stupor oozing out from inside. He sprawled out across the ground and groaned in displeasure.

Nightmare caught glimpse of Vengence's angry scowl and walked back into the shop, stifling a laugh. The others could hear Vengence ranting at Baron Von Stupor.

Just then, a man walked into the shop. He had long, flowing brown hair and sported a black jacket with fur lining the collar with black pants. Underneath was a white shirt and a curious medallion. Down his face, starting from between his eyes, a scar streaked down his face, along the side of his nose.

"No luck, eh?" Cid asked him.

"I found him. He's got guts, but I was able to bring him in," the man replied. "He's resting right now."

Cid turned to the others. "Y'all, this is my pal Leon."

Leon gave a casual wave. "You're not familiar. Did you just arrive?"

Karnage nodded. "Apparently, everything we've ever known has been destroyed."

"Don't worry, your world isn't exactly destroyed, it's just gone. If the keyblade master can defeat the Heartless, then they'll all be returned to normal."

"Heartless... you mean the little black things?" Nightmare asked.

"Yes, those creatures are called the Heartless. They're a physical manifestation of the darkness in people's hearts. They reproduce by stealing others' hearts, and a Heartless is born from the darkness inside it. All things have hearts, and worlds are no different. When the Heartless claimed your world's heart, it disappeared, and those who were able to survive, those with strong hearts, were sent here."

Everyone paused for a moment. Suddenly, Cats spoke up.

"But he not have heart," he said, pointing to Smileynator. "Why are here, then?"

"...You don't have a heart?" he asked Smileynator.

"I am a robot built and constrcted by the Baron Syndicate," it spoke in reply in a flat, emotionless manner. "There is nothing organic about my composition."

"I'm not sure what to say about that, then." Leon turned to face Cid. "I have to go. Talk to you later."

Cid bid him farewell and watched him leave the store.

"So the enemy has revealed itself," Nightmare commented.

"If we can beat them, we can get our world back," Laura-Anna added.

"You're forget keyblade master only defeat Heartless," Cats mentioned.

Nightmare thought back and remembered Von Stupor fighting the giant Heartless.

"What about Baron Von Stupor?" he asked the others. "He had some weapon that could destroy them."

"You're right," Karnage agreed. "I remember when he was fighting that big monster."

"What just a minute there," Cid said. "You mean to say one o' yer friends has a keyblade?"

"Speculation," Cats answered. "He fight big thing before we coming into Traverse Town."

"That's real interestin'. I'll have to tell the others about that when I git a chance. Hey, you have some... real thick accent there, buddy. Where you from in regards to your friends?"

"We're all from the same place, it's just that he was made based off a really stupid villain from a game a long time back," Nightmare said with a smirk.

"Hey! I real Cats, I just not having memory of past! When you made you gaining Baron Von Stupor mask are being face!" Cats retorted.

Nightmare rubbed his cheek, offended. "Hey, I didn't ask to have this form, okay! It was assigned as soon as I entered the earthen realm, get off my back! At least my voice doesn't sound like a... an electronic voice box! That's right, hahaha! Your voice sounds like you're talking through an electronic voice box!"

"Asshole!" Cats shouted and shoved Nightmare.

"Hey, knock it off!" Nightare snapped back.

"Come, baby boy!" Cats said, putting up his dukes.

"Hey, y'all take that outside, I don't need it in my shop!" Cid warned them.

"Come, we taking outside," Cats said to Nightmare, walking toward the door.

Just then, Vengence swung the door open and Cats, not paying attention was swatted away from it, stumbling into a nearby shelf and completely knocking it over, scattering rings and bangles everywhere. Nightmare began cracking up so hard he could barely stand and propped himself up on the counter.

"Damn it, look what you did, ya damn idiot!" Cid cried at Cats. "People like you are gonna make me start swearing again!"

"He making me do it!" Cats said, pointing to Vengence, who was trying to figure out what just happened.

"Get out my store, you can wait fer yer friends out there!" Cid commanded.

"What about Nightmare!"

Cid threw Cats out the open door and shut it behind him.

"He is a nuisance to me too," Vengence mentioned, walking in. Baron Von Stupor followed closely behind. "It is good that we have some sort of common ground."

Cid merely glanced at him and returned to the counter.

"I suppose our business is finished, then," Karnage stated.

Just then, the small black creatures began to appear inside the shop.

"Crap, them damn shadows have made it into First District!" Cid cried, jumping up, onto his counter. "Y'all get out and go to the Third District! Don't worry about the small fry! Take out their leader! If yer friend there really has a keyblade, he'll be a great help to the other wielder Leon found, now go!"

"What about you?" Laura-Anne asked while everyone rushed out of the shop.

"I'm in charge o' this shop!" he replied, grabbing his trusty spear. "I'll be fine, y'all _go!_"

Laura-Anne followed in pursuit of the others.

Shadows rose from the ground in horrific number. Baron Von Stupor held his hand out and the keyblade appeared. He began charging through them slaying shadows left and right. Vengence bowled them over while Nightmare followed, staying under Vengence's cape. Smileynator leapt through the air over the impending shadows while Laura-Anne used her kickboxing skills to get through the hordes. Karnage slammed them aside with his massive arms and strength. Cats stayed close to Vengence.

On their way, following signs for Third District, they explained to Vengence about the Heartless.

"That is only more reason to defeat them here," he responded.

They made their way down the stairs they came and turned left to enter the Third District. As they all entered, they saw a young boy tearing into the area as well. At the same time, two strange characters, a large, anthropomorphic duck and dog flew through the air and landed on the boy. They all came into the area to meet the boy, but before anything could be said, two giant armored feet, gauntlets, cylindrical body and helmet fell to the ground. They then floated around each other, assuming the form of a limbless knight.

Nightmare skidded to a halt and began to run in the other direction.

"Big thing, big thing, big thing!" he jabbered to himself as he skittered away, Cats in close pursuit.

The monstrous Heartless stared down its foes and a great battle began.


	4. Guard Armor Impact!

"Chapter 4- Guard Armor Impact!"

_By: Agent Baron_

The monster swung its hand down in an attempt to squash the group, all diving out of the way. The duck got up with a start and shot a fireball from its staff, hitting the beast through its helmet, in the eyes. It reared back in recoil.

"Yeah!" shouted the duck. "Now that's marksmanship!"

"Good shot, Donald!" complimented the dog.

The monster was quick to recover and attempted to swing at Baron Von Stupor and Baron Von Poorly Spelled Vengence. It first landed a hard blow on Von Stupor, who flew with the hand from momentum. Vengence threw a punch against the hand, stopping it in its tracks. Von Stupor skidded across the ground and crashed into a wall, laying unconcsious.

The boy ran to the monster and threw a few swings at its feet, emitting fierce flashes of light with each hit. The monster stepped back in pain and shot its head toward the boy like a bullet. The dog was fast enough, however, and threw himself between the two, blocking the attack with his shield. The dog was knocked back a bit.

By this time, Karnage had gotten behind the monster and climbed onto its other foot.

"There's no switch to this thing!" he shouted.

"Then beat it!" Vengence shouted.

"You might be able to punch through metal, but I sure can't!"

"Weakling freebirth!"

Smileynator leapt onto the creature and climbed up to the head. He began throwing punches through the holes at its face. Landing a few, the monster spun its body around wildly, throwing Smileynator off and hurling its pieces around like a tornado.

"Get down!" shouted the boy as everyone flattened themselves against the grouund.

The monster landed not far away and Laura-Anne stepped back from the battle, knowing there was nothing she could do to harm the beast, Karnage following her.

The battle continued with the boy, Donald, and the dog contending against the giant armored creature before them.

Charging the group, they all split up. Donald fired a steady stream of lightning bolts at the horror while the dog came up close and hammered at its feet alongside Smileynator. Vengence leapt up to it and landed a fierce punch in its chest, knocking it out of formation and to the ground.

"Way to go!" shouted the boy, who dashed for the body and began loosing combos on it.

The monster jumped away and roared aloud, obviously angered. It then returned its torso and came after the group once more.

Suddenly, Donald got caught in a devastating punt from the Heartless. He flew across the district and landed with a large thud, incapacitated. The dog saw this and reared back his shield. He then swung it with such force that he began twirling on one foot and shot toward the Heartless. Whacking the foot a few times with great force, it eventually fell over. The boy leapt over him and landed a fierce hit to the foot, causing it to dissipate into a black mist.

"Now that's teamwork!" shouted the boy aloud.

"You interfered with my battle, child!" Vengence ranted at him.

The boy looked at him for a moment, and just then, the monster grappled him in one hand, holding Smileynator in the other. The dog reared back his shield and hurled it at the creature's hand that was holding the boy. This got its attention, but it did not let go. It hopped on one foot after the dog, who ran away from it, wailing.

"You've gotta help him, sir! He's the 'key' to the light!" the dog cried to Vengence.

"He is not my problem, I have my own battles to face! If he were a true warrior, he could break out of that creature's grasp with his teeth."

Suddenly, the monster stopped chasing the dog and shot its head at Vengence like a projectile. Too busy talking, he was surprised to get hit aside by the helmet. He got back up, furious.

"_Bastard!_" he roared. "_Your honor has been shattered!_"

He angrily charged the beast, who shot its head at him again. Vengence caught it in his arms and ripped part of the visor off, shoving it into the helmet and into the face of the monster. It dropped both Smileynator and the boy, whose fall was broken by the dog.

The monster hobbled backward, slapping at its head, trying to get a good enough grip on the visor fragment, but it was lodged too far in. The boy, now back on his feet dashed at the menace and rammed his weapon into its other foot, destroying it. The monster crumpled into a large heap, but continued fighting. The head and gauntlets now hovered above the ground, in perfect formation.

It loosed a fearsome roar at Vengence, now solely bent on his destruction. Vengence, in turn, seeked out Nightmare Von Stupor and hurled him at it. The monster slapped Nightmare away and shot at Vengence, swirling its gauntlets around like fan blades. Vengence jumped into the air and landed on top of its head. Grabbing it out of formation, he held it above him as the gauntlets slammed into it trying to hit him. The helmet was knocked far away and the gauntlets began flailing at nothing, blinded.

The boy was quick to rush the head and by striking through the hole Vengence had created, felled the helmet. Vengence grabbed the body and held onto it as tightly as he could muster.

Donald, the duck, finally came to and wobbled to catch the action. He caught a glimpse of Vengence, the dog, and the boy fighting the massive Heartless and rushed in to help.

He fired an ice spell from his wand and managed to hit one of the gauntlets with his broad attack range, causing the gauntlet to freeze and fall down from the cold. The boy jumped in and gave it a downward smash, destroying it.

The second gauntlet finally found Vengence and pried him off. Holding him tightly, it raised him high and began to slam him down. Donald fired a fire spell at the gauntlet while the dog threw his shield at it. The boy jumped up and wall jumped off of the torso and hit the hand hard. The impacts of the three blows caused the gauntlet to open, and temporarily incapacitated it. The body began spinning with high velocity and whirled about the arena.

Donald maintained a steady stream of fire spells aimed at the torso while the dog chased it. The boy strafed around the body, looking for a suitable moment to attack. Vengence again found Nightmare and threw him at the body, this time knocking it over. Once it fell on its side, Vengence, Donald, the dog, and the boy all rushed it and their overwhelming force destroyed it.

The torso glowed a bright light and dissipated with the gauntlets following, with a large glowing heart exiting its body and floating away, into the air.

Nightmare got up, wobbling to maintain balance.

"It seems you and your immortality are of good use after all, Nightmare!" Vengence said to him.

"_Shut up!_" he snapped back at him and trudged away towards Laura-Anne and Karnage, rubbing his head. "Jerk!"

"Ugh.. we won..." the boy panted, and turned to the two mysterious allies that had fallen on him earlier. "So, you were looking for me?"

The two nodded their heads in unison when from nowhere, Leon's voice was heard.

"They, too, have been seeking the wielder of the keyblade," he told them, approaching.

Vengence noticed the girl from earlier near Leon, who had giggled and ran.

"You there! Why did you run from us earlier?" he asked her gruffly.

"Huh? Oh... I was expecting you to chase after me, actually."

"Well, it is too bad I did not care about you," Vengence answerd abruptly and walked away.

"Hey!" she called after him. "You better be nice to me, or I'll... I'll..."

Vengence ignored her and continued on when the boy called to him.

"Hey, thanks for your help!" he said.

"I do not know if you are from our world," Vengence told him. "But where I am from, we do not help each other out in our battles. We always fight one-on-one, with honor, and to interrupt such a battle is considered disgraceful. I have been away from said society for a long time, and shall give you benefit of the doubt, but do not do that again. I only helped you because I was attacked, and fought one body part as an enemy."

"Yeah, uh... thanks."

Vengence nodded and walked back to the group.

"We must seek the leader of the Heartless," he told the others. "If by destroying the leader here we can cease the attack on Traverse Town, then by logic defeating the leader of all Heartless will cease their attack on all worlds."

"So what about boy there?" Cats asked. "Why are not teaming him up?"

"He has guts, but he is still young. Whether he has the Heartless' bane or not, he is still too young. He will undoubtedly be a detriment to our mission."

"You sure? He did more than Karnage and I could have," Laura-Anne pointed out.

"Very well, then. I will team up with him and you will stay here."

"Are you crazy? We gotta stick together or we all may never get home!"

"Then it is settled. No more arguing, we must continue. I overheard those three talking about a vessel to travel to other worlds. We must examine it and acquire one of the same."

Vengence walked away towards the First District, completely ignoring Von Stupor on the way past.

"Who thinks we're making a mistake, say 'aye'," Nightmare said aloud, Karnage, Laura-Anne, and Cats agreeing.

Karnage hoisted Von Stupor onto his back and followed after Vengence.


	5. The Gummi Ship

"Chapter 5: The Gummi Ship"

_By: Agent Baron_

Not long after the battle, Baron Von Stupor had finally regained his consciousness.

"It was a huge Heartless," Karnage said to him. "We're not just dealing with those tiny black things, apparently there are some really big ones out there."

"'Tis nothing my weapon cannot defeat! If that boy managed to defeat it, surely I can do the same."

"Our main concern is getting off of this floating brick. We must attain a vessel to travel to other worlds before we worry about anything else, but I am unsure if that is possible," Vengence commented.

"Y'all looking fer a space vessel, you say? I might just be able to help," the group heard Cid say from behind them.

Nightmare looked at him concerned, and said, "You guys run into us a lot, man. Are you following us or something?"

Cid gave Nightmare a surprised look and shifted his gaze away for a moment. "Uh... kinda. But right now I'm delivering this book to someone."

"Why are you following us? That's really creepy."

"Look, ya want my help then shut it. I can help you travel to other worlds. Turns out--"

"I want to know why you're following us first--"

Just then, Vengence jerked Nightmare behind him and stepped forward.

"Please continue," he instructed Cid.

Cid sighed. "Turns out I run the gummi block shop over yonder. I been studying them fer some time now; you can take gummi blocks and stick 'em to each other naturally. They're like little magnets, and you can more or less fashion a ship out of them. It'll look like it came straight out of a toddler's toy box, but it runs and works like a beauty! Think you might be interested?"

"Yes. How do we get them?"

"Well, hold yer horses, that ain't the best part. Now, you guys don't know how to make ships, and you don't have any munny. My gummi blocks ain't free, but if you can scrounge up somethin' we might be able to make a deal. I'm not actually runnin' the shop right now what with the accessory shop obligation I got on my shoulders, so I won't be able to hire you. Just find some work around town, and come by the accessory shop when you think you've got enough munny worth mentionin'."

Vengence stroked his chin and nodded. "That sounds fair enough." He then turned to the group. "It appears we will be needing some jobs to cover the costs for our vessel. Everyone go find some quick money and meet back at the accessory shop when you feel you have enough money. Smileynator, make sure Cats does his share of work and Karnage, you're with Nightmare Von Stupor. They will not recieve a free ride."

"Your faith in me is impressive, you know," Nightmare grumbled. "Sheesh, it's like you don't think I'm willing to help out if it means getting back home."

"I do not appreciate sarcasm. Karnage, make sure Nightmare does more work than you."

"Hey! What's your deal, you're always so short with me! Do you hate me or something?"

"Karnage, make sure he does more work than you, and then make sure he does your work as well."

Karnage looked around uncomfortably.

"_What the hell!_"

"I shall join you now, and then Nightmare can do mine. Karnage, you find more jobs for Nightmare to do."

Nightmare stewed with a furious scowl on his face.

"Smile Nightmare, you are having fun," Vengence said to him.

Nightmare shot Vengence a nasty look.

"I do not appreciate you giving me dirty looks. Cats, you and Smileynator come with our group--"

"_That's it!_" Nightmare yelled. "That's the last straw! You guys do your own work for that asshole, and I'll find my own way back home!"

Without delay, Vengence said, "This is of some help to us, as we will now have a bit more room in the ship."

"You know, Nightmare's right, you have been targeting him for a lot of stuff," Laura-Anne spoke up.

"Why tell me something I already know?"

"I just think it's unfair for you to be so mean to him when he hasn't really done anything."

Vengence stepped over to Laura-Anne and stood directly in front of her, looking her right in the eyes. "You are absolutely correct, 'nothing' is exactly what he has done. He is not employed at our company and he does nothing more than sit around, eating our food and using our facilities. He is merely a waste of space, a tumor growing on the underside of the company that we cannot seem to remove. He has never offered to do any work, nor has he offered to help! Now that we are in the midst of an epic battle to rescue our world, he is even more useless than before!"

"I kicked those Heartless away from Von Stupor..." Nightmare chimed in.

"Goody," Vengence uncaringly shot back and returned to face Laura-Anne. "He cannot fight and all he does is _bitch!_ Bitch and complain the whole way through!" He then pointed to Cats. "He is no different! You tell me, Laura-Anne, with all of the facts on the table, do you honestly think either of them deserve even an _iota_ of my respect? They have done nothing, and are lucky I even tried to save them when the Heartless originally attacked! What do you think of that?"

"Well... maybe you're right. But something tells me one of them is going to come in very handy some time, and you're gonna feel pretty bad about the way you've treated them."

Vengence, cutting the conversation at that point, turned to the rest of the group.

"Von Stupor, go. Laura-Anne may join you if she so wishes. Karnage, go with Nightmare. Smileynator, you are with Cats. I will go alone."

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

"Ah need some work. Gimmah!" Von Stupor said to a man near the gate leading to Third District.

The man looked at him strangely and asked his reasons.

"We need some money to build a gummi ship," Laura-Anne answered for him. "We're going to travel to other worlds."

"Well... I don't have any munny on me right now, but if you can take care of the Heartless that's wandering around my hotel in the Second District, I can reward you rather well!"

Von Stupor and Laura-Anne nodded to each other and tore off toward Second District.

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

Vengence strolled into a nearby building and saw three anthropomorphic ducks sitting around. They each bore a long sleeved shirt and baseball cap of a different color. Vengence shuddered at the sight of them.

"Welcome to Huey, Dewey, and Louie's accessory shop!" said the blue-shirted one. "I'm Dewey!"

"I'm Huey!" piped the one in the red attire.

"...And I'm Louie!" added the one in the green clothes.

"I am disgusted at both you and your poor grammar," Vengence grimaced.

"Hey, what's the big idea, bub?" Huey asked him. "You don't hafta be rude!"

"Gah! Stop speaking in such terrible English and I might not!"

"Hey, do you know who you're talkin' to? Our uncle Donald is a great wizard and he can kick your butt! He also taught us some things too, so you might want to be nicer."

"What kinds of warriors are you to resemble such a clumsy and graceless animal, and to also rely on magic to win your battles! I can take down all three of you without so much as breaking a sweat."

"You wanna bet!"

All three brothers were staring down Vengence by this point. Vengence smirked back at the three.

"That does not sound like a bad idea. If I win, you must give me enough money to build a decent gummi ship for travelling to other worlds. I know you have it if you are indeed running a business."

Louie whispered into Huey's ear.

"Don't worry about uncle Donald! We aren't gonna lose. If we win, you have to give us all your clothes and walk outside naked for the rest of the day!"

"What are the winning conditions?"

"Do whatever you have to in order to catch all of us at once in one hour!"

"You make this too easy. I will agree to these terms."

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

Karnage, dragging Cats by the arm, strolled up to the door behind the accessory shop and knocked on it.

"We're not open yet, kupo!" called a meek voice from inside.

"We're looking for work, is there any chance we could be of any help?" Karnage called.

A moment later, the door opened and the two stared down at an odd white furred creature with a pink pom-pom on its head.

"You know, I think that can be arranged, kupo! Come on in!" said the creature, and beckoned to the pair.

"You are-ing weird," Cats said, confused, to the creature.

"You're no looker yourself, and you talk funny, kupo," it replied to Cats. Karnage stifled a laugh while Cats appeared blatantly offended.

"Now that the formalities are out of the way, my name is Mog. I'm what's called a moogle, in case you were wondering, kupo." He shot a look back at Cats. "What I'm setting up here is an item workshop, where we work on synthesizing different items, kupo. 'What is item synthesis?' is what you might be wondering, kupo. Item synthesis is where kupo we create new items using kupo different raw materials kupo, such as frost kupo kupo shards and even the elusive mystery goo kupo kupo kupo kupo kupo."

A brief awkward silence ensued.

"What exactly is mystery goo?" Karnage asked sudeenly, interested.

"Funny you should ask, cause it's actually a bit of a mystery!"

"Then how do you know what it does? I mean, wouldn't you rather understand what something is before you go using it?"

"Well the truth is... we'd rather not know, considering where it comes from, kupo. We have theories, but we dare not test them. You see, there are very rare non-attacking Heartless called rare truffles, and you usually get it from making them happy. Supposedly they enjoy jumping, kupo, but you help them jump by hitting them repeatedly. This can lead one to believe that they--"

"Okay pal, you can stop right there. I see what you mean about not wanting to know about that stuff. It creeps me out that you would even-- who came up with the idea of using it? Am I gonna have to touch it?"

Laughing, Mog replied, "Thankfully, it's so rare that I myself have never so much as seen it. Anyways, that's enough shooting the breeze, we have lots of work to do here. How long do you want to work for us, kupo?"

"We are needing money for gummi ship. Quick cash," Cats mentioned.

"Ah, I see. Well you can start by setting up shop as my associate over there is doing." Mog gestured toward a second moogle in the room unpacking a few boxes.

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

"So robot, what do you think we could do to get some money?" Nightmare asked Smileynator, sitting on the stairs outside the accessory shop.

"I am unfamiliar with the area. I would suggest asking around for information on available jobs," Smileynator replied emotionlessly.

Just then, Nightmare heard a strange mechanical sound. Looking around, he noticed a large blue pillar laying on the ground next to the base of the stairs. Going down to investigate, it appeared to be some sort of machine ripped out of the ground. He bent down closer to it and could hear a faint, garbled electronic voice.

"Send 10 postcards and win a prize!" it buzzed.

He peered inside and saw a switch near the deposit hole. Looking around to see if anyone was watching, he reached inside and flicked the switch once.

"You sent 1 postcard!" he heard the machine say. Smiling, he flicked the switch nine more times. "Congratulations! You win the prize!"

Suddenly, currency began pouring out of the machine and into a small pile. Nightmare's eyes widened with excitement.

"_Yahoo!_" he whooped. "Look, Smileynator! Here's my contribution!"

"Approved," Smileynator said.


	6. Unfinished Business

"Chapter 6- Unfinished Business"

_By: Agent Baron_

Baron Von Stupor and Laura-Anne went storming into the hotel inside Second District, looking for a fight. It was dark inside, save the dim light from outside shining in through the antique windows. The two halted on entering and went into stealth. Creeping slong, the boards slowly creaked underneath their weight. Listening ever carefully, they made their way down the hall. Suddenly, they heard a rustling sound come from a room adjacent from the one they were in front of.

Rushing inside, they found a strange looking Heartless hopping around. It had a bright yellow cap on with a blue robe. It stopped long enough to glance at the two, and resumed its hopping.

"I got this," said Laura-Anne, crackling her knuckles.

She ran at the Heartless and loosed a heavy punch into its face. It was knocked into the room's back door, swinging it open. Chasing after it, she delivered several hard blows to its face and tripped it up with a low kick.

"This is for destroying my world, you bastard!" she shouted at it, and stomped it multiple times. She then lifted it and threw it up and off the balcony. It fell a ways and hit the ground with a splat.

The Heartless laid there, shuddering a bit and rubbing itself. It got up, danced around a bit and disappeared.

Laura-Anne stared at the scene for a couple moments, confused. "What just happened?" she wondered.

Baron Von Stupor walked outside and looked down. "Was it a Heartless?" he asked.

"I know it was, it had the same insignia as that huge one we fought... Hey, what's that?" She pointed downward at a strange substance on the ground where the Heartless had landed as the light glinted off of it.

The friends traveled back out of the hotel and into the alley to investigate. They stooped down to get a better view of the substance.

"'Tis like grape jelly," Von Stupor stated, picking some up on his finger.

The two stared in silence for a moment, and then Von Stupor began to put his finger under his mask. Laura-Anne quickly smacked his hand back out and ordered him to clean off his finger. Afterwards, she got up and traveled back toward the hotel entrance.

"Stay right here," she said. "I'm going to find a small container for this stuff."

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

"Are ya ready?" asked Huey, an evil grin on his face.

"We're all set!" piped Dewey and Louie in unison.

"Prepare for defeat," Vengence warned them.

"Don't forget to give us a ten second head start!" Louie reminded him.

"Prepare to lose!"

Just then, the three brothers took off, disappearing around a house.

Vengence stood and counted ten seconds to himself afterwhich he tore after the three ducks. He decided to check behind Cid's accessory shop, since it gave him a better vantage point of the area. Suddenly, he heard a voice from behind him.

"Hey slowpoke! Can't keep up, can ya?" Dewey said, and ran around a corner.

Vengence, seeing this, tore after him and on veering around the corner, he tripped over a box and into a barrell. Hearing laughing, he was suddenly pushed by an unseen voice and rolled at a ferocious speed. Vengence was inevitably pressed against the barrell and too surprised to fight the centrifugal force.

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

"I really appreciate all the help you're doing for me, kupo!" Mog told Karnage and Cats as they stocked the shelves.

"I not Kupo; I Cats," Cats muttered back, peeking over his shoulder at Karnage, who in turn was watching him like a hawk. he quickly looked back to what he was doing.

"I can give you about... I don't know, maybe 50 munny a piece, kupo."

"Wait a minute, munny? What's your currency?" Karnage asked him, stopping what he was doing.

"Munny is our currency, kupo."

"Your money is in munny? That doesn't at all seem weird to you?"

"I think it's absolutely rediculous, but what are you going to do when it's becoming the universal currency for all worlds, kupo?"

"How come our world never heard of this?"

"Your world probably did, and never told you. Politicians, are all the same, kupo."

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Mog traveled over to open it, and on the other side of it was Baron Von Stupor and Laura-Anne.

"I'm sorry, but we are not yet open, kupo," Mog informed them.

"Actually, we're not here to buy anything, we were just hoping that as an item synthesis expert, you might be able to tell us about something we found," Laura-Anne requested.

"Well, we _are_ pretty ahead of schedule thanks to the help we've been having, kupo. Sure, I'll look at it. What do you have, kupo?"

Mog stepped inside with Laura-Anne and Von Stupor following behind. They noticed Karnage and Cats and the four greeted each other. Laura-Anne took out her container full of the substance she attained from the Heartless and gave it to Mog. He looked at it for a short while, and opened his eyes wide.

"Why... ma'am, you have actually discovered Mystery Goo, kupo!" he exclaimed.

Karnage's head popped up quickly as he began to listen in.

"You have some rare material here, miss, kupo," Mog informed her. "I have never seen any actual Mystery Goo for as long as I've been an item synthesis expert, kupo. Would you mind if I took it off of your hands? I would pay you well for it."

Mog then glanced over at Von Stupor, who was staring at him very hard.

"Can... I... help you with something, kupo?" he asked the masked man.

"You are adorable," Von Stupor replied, and bent closer.

Mog played off the intrusion of privacy with a light chuckle and stepped away a bit. "Anyways," he said. "How would you like it if I gave you 350 munny?"

"Welp!" Cats cut in. "Since I help not needed being, I see Vengence upping to." Without another word, he walked out the door.

"I... uh..." Mog responded, and turned back to Laura-Anne, focusing on the sale. "Anyway, would you be interested?"

"You are simply adorable," Von Stupor interrupted.

Pushing him behind her gently, Laura-Anne responded, "I think it sounds like a deal. I won't be needing it for anything."

Mog clenched his fists with excitement.

"Oh boy, kupo! Thank you so much! Karnage, tell you what. Help me out with making something using this Mystery Goo and I'll throw in an extra 25 munny as per your payment, hm?"

Karnage appeared worried.

"What's the matter, Karnage?" Von Stupor asked him. "You are not usually afraid of things."

"I don't like where that stuff came from," he replied.

"Oh, those are just rumors. You shouldn't really believe them. Just take the Mystery Goo out of the container and knead it into a doughy substance while I gather other ingredients, kupo." instructed Mog, scampering away to the shelves.

Disgusted, Karnage began following his instruction.

"Well, it came from some weird Heartless we saw," Laura-Anne informed him.

"How did you get it?" Karnage asked her.

"I beat the holy hell out of it!"

Karnage looked worse. "What did he do to give it to you?"

"Well, he was either writhing in pain or giving himself a rubdown after I threw him off the balcony. I would suspect it was the former," she laughed.

Karnage cried.

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

"Doop dee doo!" Nightmare Von Stupor sang as he sat above the machine on the edge of the wall, in front of the accessory shop. Suddenly, a barrell flew past him, nearly hitting him in the process and crashed to the ground. It hit the ground with a large thunk and continued to roll until it hit the wall.

Nightmare stared at it for a moment until Vengence exploded from it angrily. He began to run back up the stairs, but nearly toppled of dizziness, catching himself on a nearby lamp post.

"Vengence, check it out! I got 125 munny! Can we afford that ship now?" Nightmare boasted.

Vengence groggily looked toward Nightmare. "You have done enough," he said. "See what everyone else is doing and if they are having no luck, hunt for more munny. As for me, it is not about munny right now. I must crush those flightless fowl."

Vengence slapped his head a few times and charged back up the stairs.

"Hey stupid! Over here!" Huey shouted from the door to Third District.

Vengence charged toward the Third District door.

"Nanny nanny boo boo!" Dewey sang from the weapons shop.

Vengence stared back at him with a sneer for a moment, and continued through the door. Pushing it open, he suddenly felt a cold splash of water followed by a metal bucket landing and bouncing off of his helmet. Huey laughed from a distance away. Vengence gritted his teeth and began to stomp toward Huey. Huey, a surprised expression on his face, turned and ran. Unfortunately, Vengence was vastly faster. As he caught up to Huey, suddenly a sharp pain raced through out his abdomen. Looking at his rear, he noticed a dart firmly planted in it. He looked further back and saw Dewey on top of the district's wall with a dart gun, waving it at him. Turning back around, he noticed that Huey was now vanished. Vengence, spread his arms wide and cried out with rage. He stomped the ground a bit and swore at the top of his lungs. Just then, he felt another dart pierce his shoulder blade. Noticing that Dewey had not left and is now laughing, Vengence's anger boiled even higher.

Vengence raged, hurling insults Dewey could not understand as he scrambled up the stairs and made a desperate leap for Dewey in the opposite direction.

Making it as far as the ledge he stood above, Vengence held on with one hand and wildly flailed at Dewey with his free hand. The sheer length of the jump he was able to make shocked Dewey, who stumbled backward, and quickly ducked back into the First District.

Vengence whipped himself up over the wall and tore after Dewey still. Nearly catching him, he was suddenly blindsided by a small fireball. Surprised, Vengence stopped and saw Louie, standing further off with a wand in hand.

"I will break that wand over your skull, you puny bastard fowl..." Vengence uttered in a low tone, and walked slowly toward Louie.

Louie, his expression not changing, then summoned a lightning bolt to shock Vengence. As Vengence shrank down from the bolt, a slight smile came over Louie's bill as he turned and ran.

"Hey, hey Vengence!" Nightmare called to him from his sitting spot, smiling. "I know they can walk and talk like us, but... you know what's really funny?"

"Now is not the time, Nightmare..."

"You're getting outsmarted and beaten by three ducks. Heh!"

Vengence turned and gave Nightmare a horrid scowl. Nightmare stared back with an open-mouthed smile, which gradually faded into a blank stare.

"So, uh, yeah. I'll wait right here for ya," he commented, and looked around for another point of interest.

Vengence turned back around and marched toward the weapons shop. Staring at the wall, he saw lines of weapons along it. Grabbing a wand, he went back outside and patrolled First District while patting it in his hand like a club.

"You gotta pay for that!" Huey shouted at Vengence from towards Second District.

Vengence, not even turning to look, bolted in Huey's direction. The surprised duck tore into Second District, leaping through the door. As Vengence burst through, to his left, he noticed a crate with a bunch of holes placed in it. From three of them popped the brothers' heads as they blew raspberries at him. As they sucked their hads down into the box, Vengence dashed over to it and thrust his hand in after them. Louie's head popped up in the hole closest to Vengence and quacked at him loudly, surprising him. Vengence jumped with surprise and threw his hand down the respective hole after Louie. Suddenly a loud snap was heard and pain seared up Vengence's hand and arm. He cried aloud in pain and pulled his hand out, revealing a mouse trap latched to his hand. Dewey popped his head up from another hole to laugh when suddenly he was slammed back down by the force of Vengence's wand as he smashed it down on Dewey's head.

Louie ran out of the crate, screaming as Vengence then ripped it apart and extracted Dewey's unconcsious body out from inside of it.

"_I caught you, you despicable bird! I GOT YOU!_" Vengence screamed at the unconcsious brother and laid him on the ground. Vengence pointed his wand at his face. "I will now finish you with a fireball spell, you disgraceful creature!"

Suddenly, Vengence was struck by another lightning bolt.

"Hey! That's taking it too far, mister!" shouted Louie as Vengence turned to face him.

Recovering and chuckling, Vengence replied, "It is not, you fool!" He then hurled the wand at Louie, smacking him in the legs with precision accuracy and tripping him up. Running over and lifting him by his leg, Vengence continued, "You have brains, child, but no tact. I do not know how to work your magic wands, I only threatened your brother to lure you out."

Stacking the two bodies over either shoulder, Vengence continued the search for the third brother.

_I did not notice him leaving the box, but I know he is not far,_ he thought to himself.

Just then, Vengence heard Huey, screaming, tear around a nearby corner and run straight into Vengence. Vengence looked down at him in confusion.

"Thank you," Vengence said, staring down at the terrified duck.

"You gotta protect me!" Huey babbled. "I just saw a huge man, a _huge_ man around the corner and he was just staring at me... He was--"

"A huge man!" Vengence said aloud, shocked, and set the two brothers down, proceeding around the corner Huey came from at a swift pace.

He looked around and saw nothing. Looking through a door leading to Third District and still seeing nothing, Vengence suddenly had an epiphany.

_That damned duck tricked me again!_ he thought in blood-curdling anger.

He angrily tore back around the corner, but strangely saw Huey cowering on all fours with his rear end sticking in the air, covering his eyes. He peeked through his fingers and whimpered, "D-d-didja see him?"

Vengence stared for a moment in confusion. "_Was_ there a huge man around the corner?"

Huey simply nodded.

Vengence looked back and forth between Huey and the corner for a moment, and shrugged his shoulders. "I see nothing. Either way, i have won our bet, and would like for you and your brothers to hold to your end of the deal."

Huey simply remained, staring at Vengence. Vengence grabbed the three of them by the scruffs of their necks and began to drag them all back toward the weapons shop.


	7. A Familiar Face

"Chapter 7: A Familiar Face"

_By: Agent Baron_

"Adding all our funds together, that gives us..." Vengence began, computing in his head.

"1675 munny," Laura-Anne finished for him.

"Yes, exactly. Those stupid ducks from the weapons shop already gave me enough munny to build a ship, so everything else should give us more than enough munny to build a decent gummi ship."

"Plus Cid bonus," Cats added.

"Are we off to see him now?" Von Stupor asked Vengence.

"Yes, I believe we have enough."

The group wandered back to the accessory shop and found Cid inside, stocking the shelves.

"Well I'll be," he said, noticing everyone. "You guys find somethin' already? It's only been but about thirty or forty minutes!"

"Well, when you work hard enough, you can make some pretty amazing things happen, right Smiley?" Nightmare answered, elbowing Smileynator.

"Agreed," replied the machine.

"What did _you_ do that's worth mentioning?" Karnage asked him.

"My endeavor is of no consequence, just know that I, too, can be a help to the group when I really want to." Nightmare bragged, examining his nails.

"I see," Vengence commented. "So until you found the munny we needed, you just did not care at all what happened to us."

Nightmare paused for a moment in surprise. "Okay, now you're just taking that out of context, Vengence."

"Then what did--"

"Guys, guys!" Laura-Anne cut in. "Are we going to buy a gummi ship or what?"

"I'm with the young lady here," Cid added. "If you guys are gonna argue, then get it outta yer system outside and come back when we can do some business."

"I tire of your mouth, old man," Vengence said.

"I'm tryin' ta help y'all out and here ya are, bickering an' wastin' my time when I've got a business to run here!"

"Very well, then. I shall take care of the interference."

Vengence grabbed Nightmare and moved toward the door, opening it.

"You are stupid," Vengence told him flatly and shoved him hard out the door and closed it.

Nightmare's grunts could be heard from outside as he fell down the stairs.

Cid buried his face in one hand and shook his head.

"We want a gummi ship, how much will one cost?" Vengence asked him.

"About 300 munny, bare minimum. What kinds of attachments do ya want on it?"

Vengence looked at the group and they nodded our heads. He turned back to him with a smirk and said, "Give us the works."

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

Cid, with the aid of the group sans Cats and Nightmare, was able to complete the gummi ship in just less than four hours. They looked at their finished work just outside Traverse Town gates.

"That is a mighty fine robot you got there, Vengence. He got a price on him?" Cid asked.

"No." Vengence coldly replied.

"Eh... right. Anyways, I got yer ship done, got yer big jets and everything. It oughtta beat most anything out there in a race, got yer big lasers, good fer attackin' line formations, homing missles for yer erratic baddies, but that all sucks yer energy pretty good. Use the regular laser fer shootin' what's right in front o' ya and I got a shield on there in case you do manage to take a few hits, with some thick armor to back you up. There's a navigation gummi in there, fer makin' a map of where you've been, and I also stuck a warp gummi in there so you can warp back and forth between worlds without flyin' the whole distance. Spam that gummi, it will save you a _load_ of time. However, don't just go warpin' anywhere. Make sure you got yer coordinates down on yer map and you know where you're gonna land, or you might land in a heavily populated area of Heartless. Stick to what you got filled out 'till you find the place yer lookin' for."

"I understand. Thank you for your business Cid, and I appreciate the help."

"You're a big stiff and all, but I gotta give you credit. You're a hell of a worker. I gotta respect yer quality and ethic."

Vengence nodded in acknowledgement and turned to his group.

"It is time to go."

As they all got into the ship, the group bid farewell to Cid and thanked him for his help. Slowly, the ship rose and took off, in search of the source of all Heartless.

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

Baron Von Stupor piloted the ship, exploring unmarked coordinates on their map and searching for other worlds while the rest of the group relaxed in the common room.

"I cannot helping but think we missing," Cats said aloud.

"What are you talking about?" Vengence asked, walking over to him.

"Someone not being here... Sarah?"

Vengence suddenly became stiff, and spoke quickly.

"She is here," he said.

"She being here? Now?"

"Yes. In... the trunk."

"Being... trunk?"

"Yes, she is in the trunk. Freebirth."

Vengence then quickly walked away, leaving Cats thinking to himself, confused.

"Land ho!" Von Stupor called from the control room.

Everyone gathered in the control room and looked out the main window to see a coliseum approaching.

"What the heck?" Karnage wondered aloud. "What kind of alien world is that?"

"We shall find out," said Laura-Anne, struggling to hide her interest.

The ship landed just outside the coliseum and everyone unboarded, strolling inside.

"Did we... go back in time? Everything here looks Roman," Karnage mumbled.

"It's Greek," Laura-Anne corrected him. "And for some reason, I don't think it's aliens that live here. Perhaps another dimension?"

"What do you all want?" said a voice from deeper in the building.

Everyone looked to see a satyr come marching out of a room. Laura-Anne and Karnage's eyes boggled.

"A... a mythical creature!" Laura-Anne sputtered.

"What, ain't ya ever seen a satyr before?" the goat man grunted.

Von Stupor's head cocked to one side. "Another world is another reality."

They all looked in his direction.

"An alternate reality," he continued. "Like another dimension, a parallel universe."

"Hey kid, don't tell me you're wearing a fake Majora's Mask," the satyr commented, knocking on Von Stupor's mask.

Von Stupor backed away uncomfortably. "Fake?" he contemplated.

"Yeah, if that thing was genuine, you'd be going all crazy evil, blastin' stuff and killing people."

"Wait, you know about his mask?" Laura-Anne asked.

"Well _duh,_ everyone knows the legend of Majora's Mask! But I don't have to tell you, because I'm busy working here, so scram! Shoo!"

"What do you know about my mask?" Von Stupor asked.

"Didn't I just tell you I ain't tellin' ya! Get out of here!"

"What do you know about the Heartless?" Vengence asked him.

Suddenly, the goat man stopped dead in his tracks and looked toward Vengence.

"What do _you_ know about the Heartless?" he said.

"It destroyed our world, and we want it back. To do it, we must defeat the leader of all Heartless."

"Ha ha, funny. I respect your intention, but there's no way a bunch of punks like you can hope to beat the Heartless. That's a hero's job."

"Worthless goat!" Vengence shouted at him, grabbing him by the horn. "Do you have any idea what kind of honor I have attained through my personal battles! Why should I _ever_ have to prove anything to you!"

Von Stupor tried to get Vengence off of the satyr but was pushed away effortlessly.

"_Get off me!_" he shouted back, trying to pull Vengence's hand off of his horn. "Only genuine certified heroes ever stand a chance against _anything_ Hades pulls out of his sleeve!"

"Who is Hades! Is he the leader of all Heartless! Tell me where he is and I shall crush him!"

"Get off or I ain't doin' _squat!_"

Vengence, let go, pushing the satyr away a bit.

"Do you know who I am! I'm Philoctetes, and I train certified heroes, the geunine article! Be happy I'm doing this, but I'll tell you what. I got a combatant in the back here who has the skills to be a true hero, but lacks the true psyche. If you can stomp him flat and teach him a lesson about being so cocky, I _might_ consider putting you through a preliminary test to verify whether you can enter the tournament or not, and through winning this tournament I _might_ consider you for hero training."

"I am not interested in your stupid tournament when your world's fate is at stake. I want to know where Hades is, so that I can defeat him and bring back my own world."

"Hah! _Hahah!_ As long as we got good ol' Hercules on our side, this world ain't goin' anywhere! Anyways, if you can't even impress the gods, you don't even stand a chance against one."

"He is a god? Hmph. As they say, if it bleeds, we can kill it."

"What are you, doped in the head! Gods don't bleed! Gods don't die, they're _gods_! Well, not to mortals, anyways. Only gods can kill gods!"

Vengence pulled Nightmare forward.

"This one here cannot die," Vengence said. Nightmare smiled and Philoctetes winced in surprise at his face. "In addition to this, he is pathetic and worthless. Is he still a god?" Nightmare forwned and went back to the back of the group.

"You know what? Fine. Your death wish. You wanna face Hades? Do me a favor first and I'll tell ya where he is."

"What?"

"Beat down the tournament champion I have in the back here and I'll tell you where to find Hades. He's got skills, but he doesn't understand that being a true hero isn't about being cocky and rubbing your opponent's face in the dirt. I need someone to slap some sense into him."

Vengence frowned in disapproval, but agreed.

"By the way, call me Phil for short," Phil replied, while walking into the hall. "Head out to the arena to meet your opponent. It's your first right coming down this hall. Only one of you fights!"

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

Vengence climbed onto the fighting platform and awaited his mystery opponent.

_If this is from ancient Greece, then there shouldn't be any issue with defeating a warrior from this time, assuming he does no hold any mythological items, since myths appear to be real in this world,_ Vengence thought to himself.

It was then that his jaw dropped as his opponent jumped into the arena.

"Well, well! I would have never expected to see you guys here!" spoke the man. He was of a bit shorter than Von Stupor's height and sported a white shirt with a large, over lined letter 'P' on the front as a design. He wore light blue colored jeans with white shoes, similar in comparison to Von Stupor's. Around his neck he wore a baby blue colored blanket as a cape. Perhaps his strangest feature was that we wore an odd mask, resembling a face with two stacked red stripes of war paint lining his cheeks, a brown stripe for each eyebrow and a blue line that journeyed down his forehead partway prior to heading back up in a symmetrical fashion. The eyes were very striking, a pure white with no pupils. The entire mask bore a battle ready look. Attached to the top of the mask was a gray hat, shaped like a cylindrical pyramid, the hat brim a darker shade of gray. The hat drooped down to just beneath his shoulder line, covering his entire hair area, rendering its color a mystery.

"What the hell are you doing here, Baron Von Engar!" Vengence asked ferociously.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Phil asked, surprised.

"We go pretty far back!" Engar spouted. "Hey, get out of here, Vengence! You know I wanna fight Stupor!"

"Why me! Fight Vengence!" Von Stupor argued.

Engar looked between Von Stupor and Vengence and said to Von Stupor, "I'm fighting you next!"

"Let us get this over with so I can fight Hades."

"What's your beef with Hades?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"'Cause I wanna know!"

"Heh... if you can hit me in my face just one time, I will tell you."

"You got a deal!"

The two barons charged at each other full force and their battle began.


	8. The Conspiracy Starts to Unravel

"Chapter 8: The Conspiracy Starts to Unravel"

_By: Agent Baron_

Engar leaptinto a flying punch, which Vengence sidestepped, chopping Engar down in the back. Engar hit the ground with a thud, but rolled away before Vengence's punt could connect.

"I'm hero material, baby!" Engar spouted proudly, gesturing for Vengence to come on with both hands.

"You are worthless, not even a person." Vengence flatly replied.

"I'm a 'Not Person'!!! That makes me better than you!!! Gwar!"

Engar charged at Vengence once more and performed a baseball slide. Vengence hopped over with ease and Engar rolled out of his slide, winding up on all fours. Vengence ran forward to strike, but was surprised as Engar suddenly popped into the air, spinning furiously and swinging all four limbs. Vengence stood back, barely missing the attack. Engar landed on his feet and used his momentum to continue spinning and swung his leg up for a high kick. Vengence blocked it, the sheer force knocking him back a bit.

Engar thrust his arms in the air, wobbling. "Yeheah!" he whooped.

Vengence rushed forward and clotheslined Engar hard, reciprocating him.

"If you were more serious while fighting, you would stand a better chance against me. I am surprised Von Stupor has a hard time with you," Vengence commented.

Engar got up, angry. "You're asking for it now, pal!" he shot nastily.

Engar roared and charged again at Vengence. He began to throw some punches, Vengence blocking them and throwing some of his own. Engar, after blocking a few punches himself, did a low kick to Vengence, surprising him. Engar took this opportunity to slam Vengence in the cheekbone with a hard backhand chop. The blow knocked him back a bit, yet still refusing to faze him.

"I hit you in the face!" Engar said, pointing at Vengence.

Vengence, not reacting, ran forward and grabbed a very syrprised Engar.

"Congratulations," he said. "A golden rule of fighting, as a bonus. Friendly banter rarely appears during a battle."

Vengence then lifted Engar high above his head and slammed him down hard on his back. Engar did not move after this, apparently knocked out.

Vengence glanced over toward Phil, who nodded in approval.

"The guy beat a whole bunch of Heartless in the tournament and even whipped a kid who admittedly did a lot better than I could have ever expected. He's got far greater strength than anyone I've ever known, with the exception of Herc. You seem to got that same strength, where'd you get that strong from, anyway?"

"Most of it came from my rigorous training where I come from. The rest is in my genes," Vengence commented in reply. "This man is a nuisance to my associates and I, eternally causing mischief and trying to bring about our downfall. Why his partner is not here baffles me, however." Vengence walked over to Engar and batted at his mask with his boot. "Wake up, weakling."

Engar smacked Vengence's boot away and got up. "Hey!" he shouted. "You want me to stick my foot down your throat?!"

"You certainly display the ability in combat."

Engar looked back at his imprint in the rock ground, and back at Vengence. "That was a warm-up. Anyway, I hit you in your face!"

"Ah, right. Very well. Hades appears to be the leader of the Heartless, and so to return our world back to us, I must defeat him."

"What? He's not the leader of the Heartless, stupid! It's Malefi--uh..."

"Malefi-what?"

"I ain't tellin'."

"Tell me or I will extract if from your skull with my bare hands!"

"I... uh... hm. It's Maleficent. Not like that will help you much."

"That was all the help I needed."

Just then, a voice was heard from behind them.

"Excuse me, do I keep hearing my name or something?"

Everyone turned to see a blue-skinned man in a blue robe, his head aflame.

"Hades!" Phil exclaimed.

"You are Hades? Tell me where Maleficent is," Vengence ordered.

"I'm sorry, Maleficent doesn't appreciate stalkers, so I can't help ya. But if that kind of thing turns you on then go right on ahead, I won't stop you."

"Baron Von Engar has informed me that Maleficent is the leader of all Heartless. You apparently work under her if you too, are controlling them. Tell me where she is or I will beat it from your skull."

Hades shot a glare at Engar, who shrugged his shoulders.

"I couldn't do anything about it." Engar said to him.

"...Is that so?" Hades patronized him, then turned back to Vengence, bending down closer to him. "And so what does a mortal like yourself intend to do about beating anything from a god's skull? You do know we're all-powerful, right? I could turn you into fried blowhard if I wanted to."

Vengence sat for a moment, and proceeded to punch Hades in his smirking face, knocking him back a ways. Hades shot back up, flaming red and very angry.

"Is that how you want to play?!" he shrieked, launching a fireball at Vengence.

"You are testing my patience with your arrogance! Tell me where she is or next time I will not hold back any strength!" Vengence shouted back after jumping over the fireball.

"You know what? You can be just as irritating to me as that little _sunspot_ just by your attitude alone! Unfortunately, I have some... other business to attend to, so I'll just take my leave, but not without handing you a little parting gift of my own. Au revoir, aribaderce, ciao, all that good stuff."

Vengence, surprised, charged after Hades, who disappeared into blue smoke. Vengence swatted away the smoke, realizing there was nothing there.

"Damn it!" he shouted aloud. "Where did he go?!"

"If he went anywhere, it was back to the underworld," Phil told him. "Trust me, guy, I saw what you did and I'll admit, I'm impressed. You might stand a chance against Hades and I think he knows it-- but that's as long as he's up here. You can't touch him as long as he's in the underworld, you will literally go through him, but he'll be stronger than ever. If you're gonna go after him, I'd recommend you tell me what you want on your grave markers."

Vengence thought for a moment, and looked toward Baron Von Engar. "You are obviously connected to Maleficent somehow if you know about her. Tell me everything."

"Why do I gotta tell you?!" Engar snapped back. "No amount of beating you put on me is gonna squeeze anything else out of me!"

Vengence began to walk toward him slowly while Engar stood his ground.

"It's not gonna work, Vengence." Vengence came closer. "You're not making me talk!" Vengence cracked his knuckles, still approaching. "Vengence, you're not gonna do it!!! _Aaaaaaaugh!!!!_" Vengence stared for a moment, and returned to the group.

"He knows nothing," he told them.

"How do you know?" Laura-Anne asked.

"I could smell his fear, and he would have talked. Either way, Hades is working with Maleficent, but apparently of this world as well. My guess is that--"

"The others are connected as well!" Baron Von Stupor cut him off. Vengence glared at him. "You talk a whole lot and I don't get any attention..."

"I am the leader here, and that is how we work! I give orders and solve puzzles and you all stay by and watch!"

"Now you know how I feel," Nightmare commented.

"Shut up, both of you! We are leaving now."

"Hey!" Engar called from behind them. "Hey, take me with you!"

"Why should we?" Vengence asked flatly.

"Because I don't wanna stay here, duh!"

"Why are you here, anyway?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Why should I help you?"

Engar thought to himself for a moment.

"Fine, I get it," he said angrily. "Here's what happened..."


	9. Enter the Not Barons

"Chapter 9: Enter the Not Barons"

_By: Agent Baron_

"Faster! Harder! Faster! Harder!" Baron Von Engar shouted to the Whoopsie-Daisies crowding their assembly line while beating a drum. "Get those action figure packages boxed and taped, pronto! Fast-like!"

The Whoopsie-Daisies are a genetic line of Oompa-Loompas that are vastly different in appearance than the others. Very tall and bulky, they were once the subject of ridicule among Oompa-Loompas to the extent that they were driven away from their land. Their name, in fact, is one given by the Oompa-Loompas, one that even today they could not outgrow. They are essentially rejects of the Oompa-Loompas and long to bring their kind to glory over their once-tormentors. The Oompa-Loompas have since matured and become vastly more civil, but the Whoopsie-Daisies' grudge has remained.

A Whoopsie-Daisy suddenly turned from his action figure box and snatched away Baron Von Engar's drum.

"Saying that garbage will _not_ make us work faster!" it shouted down at him, and slammed the drum over his head.

"Forgive me for trying to build some morale!" Engar shouted through the drum, not attempting to take it off. He turned and stormed away, bumping into a Whoopsie-Daisy along the way. The brute frowned down at him. "Watch where you're walking!" Engar yelled, shaking his fist in the wrong direction and stumbled down a hall.

Baron Von Poorly Spelled Scranton stared at four strange, gooey orange cubes on his desk.

_What on Earth are these for?_ he pondered to himself, knowing that they were most definitely not natural.

Baron Von Poorly Spelled Scranton was a few inches taller than Baron Von Engar, and hid his face inside of a full-face motorcycle helmet, colored a dark brown with a fully tinted visor. He sported a brown wool hooded trenchcoat, which ended just above his ankles, and dark brown gloves. His shirt underneath was light brown, tucked inside a very dark colored brown pair of jeans, tucked into black ring boots.

Unknown to virtually anyone who reads his name, it is actually pronounced as 'Scantron' as opposed to 'Scranton'.

Scranton looked up just in time to see Baron Von Engar wobble past, the drum still covering his head.

"_Engar!_" he called sharply.

Engar's drum-covered head popped into the doorway.

"You call, Scranton?" he asked.

"Why is a drum on your head?"

"Whoopsie-Daisy did it."

"Always a Whoopsie-Daisy..." Scranton muttered to himself. "Why don't you take it off instead of stumbling around like a damned idiot?"

"I don't feel like it, cause--"

"Engar, I don't want to listen to your logic, just take it off!"

"My voice sounds really cool in here!"

Pounding the desk with his fist, Scranton began to scream when he suddenly heard an odd, gooey sucking sound come from his desk. He looked down to see two cubes linked together. Curious, he linked the others together, and noticed that they would only bind into an odd, almost predetermined shape.

"Whazzat?" Engar asked, pulling the drum off his head and stepping inside.

"These blocks just linked together."

"You mean like gummi bears when you mash them together real hard?"

"No, it's like all they have to do is touch each other and they'll bind instantly."

"Hah... we should call them gummi blocks."

"Engar, that's stupid. Who would ever want to call them gummi blocks?"

"Well, what do they taste like?"

"Forget about that, I have an assignment for you."

"Just say the word!"

"I want you to go out and find as many of these blocks as you possibly can. Take them from people if you have to. I want as many as possible."

Engar nodded his head and dashed out of the Baron Foundation headquarters, ready for a scavenger hunt.

_Wait... where do I look for them at?_ he thought to himself, scratching the back of his head. He looked to his side and noticed a young teenage boy riding a skateboard.

"Hey, you!!!" Engar yelled at him, startling him. "You seen any gummi blocks?"

"Gummi what?" the kid yelled back.

Engar marched over to him and said, "I'm looking for these blocky things that stick together when they're near each other, but not magnets!"

"Uh... you mean like these?" the boy asked, pulling an orange blocky lump out of his pocket and showing it to Engar.

"Yeah, like those!"

"I just find them sitting around on the ground, and stuff. They've been falling out of the sky, from what I've heard."

"Oh, okay. Now give that to me."

"What? Why?"

"Cause I'm told to collect as many as possible and to take them from people if I have to, now gimme!"

"Who told you that???"

"Doesn't matter, now _gimmah!_"

"They're not yours, so screw off!"

Engar then jabbed, knocking the boy clear off of his board, causing him to drop his lump of gummi blocks. Picking up the lump, he looked down at the boy holding his cheek and writhing in pain.

"Since I conquered you, that makes this mine by right, so _there!_ Punk!" Engar shot at him and marched away, flipping it in his hand.

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

After a few hours of searching, Engar had found but a few more gummi blocks.

_Finding them on the ground, hah. I ain't finding crap,_ he thought to himself.

"You need to straighten out your act, son," a voice said from behind him.

Turning around, Baron Von Engar saw the town's local superhero, Captain Peace Justice Harmony. Captain Peace Justice Harmony is a large man, well-built with medium length black hair, slicked back into spikes. He bore a spandex uniform, classic of any superhero with a significantly less than attractive color scheme of pink and brown. His insignia is the letters P, J, and H, arranged on his chest into the shape of a shield. He had a flowing cape of brown color, as are his boots. He also wore on his face a brown mask with pink lenses for him to see, that covered his face from his forehead down to his nose. The corners of the mask tipped upward into minute horns. Contrary to his gloriously awful sense of style, he is an exceptional superhero and has brought down many of the city's criminals, adding an additional blow to their pride.

"What business is it of yours how I act, Peace Justice _Stupid_?" Engar asked him nastily.

"I've been recieving claims that you're acting aggressively towards the citizens of this city. I'm keeping my eye on you, Baron Von Engar, and I will take you down if I hear you're causing any more trouble."

"What are you gonna do, heat-vision me to death?"

"You know I can't do that."

"Yeah, I know a bunch of other stuff you can't do, cause you don't have any superpowers!"

"A superhero is not made from the unique abilities he or she has over anyone else, a superhero is made from his ability and courage to protect mankind where authorities can't."

"You know what else you can't do? You can't touch this!" Engar shot, ignoring the man's statement and shaking his rear at Peace Justice Harmony.

"Behave," Peace Justice Harmony sternly ordered, and returned to his vehicle, a badly repainted pink and brown unlicensed Volkswagen Isetta, and driving away.


	10. The Great Gummi Block Hunt

"Chapter 10: The Great Gummi Block Hunt"

_By: Agent Baron_

"Hey, you! Old guy!" Baron Von Engar called to an older man walking across the street.

The man stopped and looked at him with furrowed brows as Engar approached.

"You! I'm looking for stuff like this!" Engar told him, showing him the gummi block lump. "Where can I get more?"

"You're being pretty rude, young man. Ask me a little nicer and I might try to help you."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Could you please tell me where I can get this stuff, and could you please tell me rather quickly? By wasting my time like you are right now, it makes me want to cork your esophagus with this lump of gummi I have here, and that wouldn't be very good for either of us, because I'm seeking to attain more."

The man stared at Engar in shock.

"I can't believe you talk like that to your elders! I demand you apologize to me this instant!"

"Sorry, pal. I demanded information first. Not only that, but I can beat you up, so I don't think you're in any position to demand anything."

"Excuse me, but are you threatening me?"

"No, not at all. I'm just offering you the opportunity to walk away from me without a concave face."

The man scowled at Engar for a moment, and proceeded to storm away without a word.

"You old fogey," Engar muttered, and with his free hand, picked up a lump of dirt. Winding up to throw it at the man, he suddenly felt a hand hold him back, and he turned to see the face of Captain Peace Justice Harmony.

"You weren't blessed with social graces when you were born, were you?" he asked. Engar, surprised, stared back. "No, you must have been absent when God handed those out."

"_My god is a scientist!_" Engar shouted, and swung at Peace Justice Harmony.

Peace Justice Harmony blocked this and gave Engar a hard palm strike, knocking him backward and to the ground. Engar performed a backward roll, but had the air knocked out of him. He knelt, clutching his chest and heaved.

Peace Justice Harmony marched over to him and reached for the lump of gummi blocks in Engar's hand, saying, "I believe that these truly aren't yours, so I will just confiscate these and return them to the--"

He was then cut off as Engar sprung into a headbutt, holding his breath, connecting the forehead of his mask with Peace Justice Harmony's. The blow knocked Peace Justice Harmony backward a few steps, giving Engar time to stand properly. Engar finished hacking and regained his wind.

"You want this, Peace Justice Fathead? Come get some!" Engar taunted.

Peace Justice Harmony ran forward and threw a punch, which Engar easily deflected and prepared a haymaker. Peace Justice Harmony caught his arm and body, however, and scooped him up and slammed his entire body back down. Engar rolled away and stood back up, surprised.

"How'd you see that coming?" Engar asked.

Peace Justice Harmony simply smirked. "Come on," he said, and waited for Engar to make a move.

"What's stopping me from just walking away right now and going after more gummi blocks?"

"You don't feel any kind of need to get me back for what I did to you? I know you do, because if you walk away, it won't erase the fact that I would have the last laugh. I know how people like you think, Engar. I face them all the time. I've brought them all down, and I can do the same to a young thug just like you."

"Huh. You're right on a few points, guy. But there's one thing you're not quite on par with..."

"What's that?"

"I'm not like all the other young thugs. I was made to fight!"

Engar charged after Peace Justice Harmony with amazing agility. As Peace Justice Harmony prepared for a strike, Engar suddenly went into a baseball slide between his legs and braked once behind him. Then, springing to his feet, he landed a strong uppercut to the rotating Peace Justice Harmony's jaw. Engar then charged forward and rammed the stunned opponent with his shoulder. Peace Justice Harmony fell backward and teched his fall, recovering back into a fighting stance. He sat for a moment, staring at Engar, then looked at his hand. He then charged forward, and Engar met his charge by putting up his guard. Out of nowhere, Peace Justice Harmony grabbed his hand holding the lump of gummi blocks and wrenched it behind his back, causing his grip to loosen and drop the lump. Then with his free hand, he chopped at Engar's neck, dropping him instantly.

"You're a better fighter than I thought. If I can't beat you right now, however, I'll at least confiscate your gummi blocks and return them, and then I'll return for you later," he spoke to Engar while he was stunned.

Peace Justice Harmony then reached down and grabbed the lump of gummi blocks and ran back to his car. As Engar got up and chased after him, Peace Justice Harmony had already managed to get into his car and drive away.

"Damn you! Scranton's gonna kill me if I don't make any progress!" Engar shouted at him as he drove away.

Watching Captain Peace Justice Harmony whip around a corner, Engar stopped and thought to himself for a moment, and proceeded to chase after him on foot at an astounding pace. He ran as fast as he could down the road, jumping over people and weaving in and out of them, pushing the occasional bystander out of his way. He wheeled around the corner the car went in, jumping over an oncoming one in the process, also startling the driver. Despite Engar's glaring speed, he could not see the car as he turned the corner and stomped the ground in anger.

He approached an older man and asked him if he had seen a funky pink and brown car go by. Pointing further down the road, Engar ran in that direction without a word. Further down, he would pull more people aside and ask them about the captain's car. Occasionally, he would find someone who saw the car and where it was headed. Tracking the car further, he eventually noticed his car parked at the beginning of a nearby wooded nature trail.

"Jerk," Engar muttered to himself, and tore full speed into the nature trail.

Dashing through the woods for a minute or two, he ultimately found the captain walking down the trail. He ran up behind him and before he had a chance to react, Engar gave him a hard forearm smash, knocking him clear to the ground and forcing him to tumble a bit. Engar jumped on him and while grabbing him by the head, smashed his mask against the captain's dome.

"_Gimme my gummi!!!_" Engar furiously demanded, completely exhausted.

Recovering from the surprise, the captain popped Engar off of him by arching his back, and rolling to his feet.

Rubbing his forehead, Peace Justice Harmony responded, "I can't, I was robbed."

"_What?!_" Engar shouted.

"It was this woman, clad in armor, who crippled my vehicle, otherwise I would have continued down this nature trail. She was able to get the gummi blocks from me and made off with them."

"I know exactly who it was. Damn it!"

"Where is she? I must have her taken in for her crimes of assault, battery, and theft using a deadly weapon."

"I ain't tellin' you! Go fix your stupid-looking car!"

Before the captain could respond, Engar ran away heading toward the abandoned warehouse, headquarters of the Anti-Barons.


	11. Search and Retrieve, Life or Death

**I apologize for the blatant delay, readers. I'm a very lazy person, who really has a hard time getting around to stuff, heh. But like I've said in other fics before, I'm not cancelling any of my stories. They will be finished, it's simply a matter of time for when I get to them. I actually have three more chapters written since chapter 10, and I've posted them all today. Also, in apology, let me catch you all up to speed. Last time we left off, Baron Von Engar had his gummi blocks stolen by Captain Peace Justice Harmony. After proceeding to chase down his badly repainted Volkswagen Isetta, Peace Justice Harmony revealed that he had been ambushed, and that his attacker had stolen the gummi blocks from him. Suspecting that it was a group of people known as the Anti-Barons, Engar sets off toward their headquarters to get everything back.**

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

"Chapter 11: Search and Retrieve, Life or Death"

By: Agent Baron

Another hour passed as Engar traveled halfway across town towards the abandoned warehouse. A couple blocks away from it, he stopped to take another breather. A friendly man stopped by and began to talk to Engar.

"Where are you headed in such a hurry, young man?" he asked, a warm smile on his face.

"I'm going... to the abandoned warehouse... to beat... the snot out of a bunch... of villains... that took my gummi blocks!" Engar heaved in reply, bent over with his hands on his knees. "What's it to ya?"

"Now, you're not serious about that, are you?"

"Does this look like a face that would lie to you???" Engar asked, annoyed. He looked at the man and pointed sharply at his mask.

The man stared at him for a moment, then chuckled. "I get it, I get it. Why aren't you taking a cab to go see your friends, though? You look like you ran a long way."

"I can go faster than a stupid cab on foot. I'm not bound by red lights!"

"You crazy kids and your invincibility complexes..." the man chuckled, walking away. "You have a great day, son!"

"Invincibility... complexes...?" Engar wondered to himself for a moment. Suddenly, the man's meaning clicked in his head and he yelled back at him. "_I'll have you know I have the brain of a dolphin!!!_" The man gave him an odd look over his shoulder. "_That's right, a dolphin! You know, 'ee-EH-EH-EH-EH!!!' Dolphins, so that makes me smarter than you! I oughtta be calling YOU son!!! Stupid monkey!_"

The man looked very disturbed and continued walking.

"Calling me son, dumb jackass..." Engar muttered to himself as he began walking toward the warehouse.

IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI

Engar approached the warehouse and contemplated how he was going to get his gummi blocks from inside and make it out alive.

_Even if I get in I won't know where they're at unless I get the information out of someone._ Engar thought to himself._ Who's the wimpiest guy in there? Heh. None other than Baron Von East. Where's he at?_

Engar poked around outside the warehouse, peeking inside the windows. Eventually, he happened across an empty office toward the back. The panel was rather large, so he simply kicked it in, shattering it. Stepping inside, he looked around inside the desk, but to no avail. After a few more moments, he felt an odd vibration on the floor along with the sound of extremely heavy footsteps echoing in the halls.

_Ohhhhhh, crap. Ulric is the last person I want to deal with right now._ Engar thought, and quickly looked around for a place to hide. Seeing an off-kilter filing cabinet next to a wall, he slipped behind that and kept as silent as possible.

Before long, the man clomped into the room, his sheer height and muscle size barely permitting him through the rickety doorway. He was a gargantuan man; anyone else would pale in comparison to his size alone. Nothing about his apparel was particularly extravagant, merely a blue jumpsuit along with black boots and gloves (all of which were undoubtedly custom-made to fit his mammoth-sized body).

"Damn those punks! They did it again!" he ranted, obviously seeing the shattered glass. "How many times must I throw them into garbage dumpsters before they learn to leave our headquarters alone?!"

Ulric stomped back out of the office, ranting to himself all the way down the hall.

Engar emerged from his hiding spot and peered down the hallway, watching Ulric lumber away. He sidled down the hallway after him, expecting to be lead toward the others. He followed him through various corridors, keeping out of sight when necessary, when he was finally near a room in which he heard a lot of talking amidst a few people.

"They have done it again!" Ulric bellowed.

"They have done what?" asked another familiar voice Engar recognized as belonging to a man known as Count Lanzendorf, self-appointed head of his group, the Anti-Barons.

Despite the glaring lack of originality in their group's name, they have at best been a thorn in the Baron Syndicate's side ever since their first conception. Unfortunately, a thorn is all they can achieve to be due to their lack of power and finances to launch a concerted effort against the barons. They consist of a group of Baron Von Stupor's mortal enemies from the past, all brought together by Lanzendorf with the exception of Ulric, who is simply in it to get at Baron Von Poorly Spelled Vengence. Vengence and Ulric are the bitterest of rivals dating back to before the Baron Syndicate existed, and Ulric finds helping the Anti-Barons is a much more efficient way to get to Vengence. Despite their common enemy, both the Anti-Barons and Not Barons want the destruction all to themselves, and therefore while indirectly helping each other out, they do not trust nor like each other enough to form even a shaky alliance.

"Those blasted kids have destroyed our window again! Why am I never around when this happens?!"

"Calm down, Ulric, we have other things to concern ourselves with," commanded a young female's voice. Engar recognized it as belonging to Lady Santiago.

"Yes, like these strange blocks that Santiago robbed from that superhero who's been showing up lately," Lazendorf added. "Was he a challenge, Lady Santiago?"

"I blindsided him. He's a smart one, though. It wasn't easy to do. If I ever have to strike again, I won't be able to do it but a few more times before he really catches on."

"Whatever. What's more important is finding out what these things do, and why the Not Barons are so interested in them."

Engar peeped around the corner and into the doorway and happened to spy Lanzendorf resting the gummi blocks on his palm along with a second bigger chunk on the desk next to him.

_I have to wait for the perfect opportunity to strike..._ Engar thought to himself, and poised for action.

Growing impatient, he simply tore into the room screaming and kicked over a chair in no particular direction. He snatched his gummi blocks from Lanzendorf and then proceeded to grab the fused pile on his desk as well and turned tail, tearing back out of the room.

The shock from the sudden burst left everyone stunned, trying to register what happened.

Lanzendorf, examining his hand and then the desk, finally shouted, "_He took the gummi blocks, don't let him escape!_"

Santiago dashed out of the room and into a stairway leading to a higher floor.

"He's on the floor level, you stupid girl!" Lanzendorf shouted after her as Ulric forced his way past Lanzendorf, knocking him into a nearby wall.

"Surprise, surprise," she said back in a condescending tone. "I'm going to get the 'drop' on him, asshole. Worry about yourself!"

Santiago ran away, and Lanzendorf huffed to himself, and made a beeline for the entrance. After turning a corner, he noticed several Baron Von Engar-shaped holes in the walls leading all the way to the outermost wall.

_He's gone,_ Lanzendorf thought to himself, following the holes to the outermost wall and looking around. _If he was going to bust through our walls, why did he use our main entrance instead of just running through this one, too?_

IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI

_I got 'em! I got 'em! And I hit paydirt, too!_ Engar whooped in his head as he fused to the two already large gummi lumps together. _This thing makes a weird shape, but subtly familiar shape..._

Spotting something shiny on the ground, he scooped it up to realize its squishy texture. What was odd about it, however, was that it was clear and yellow. After examining it a bit, he fused to the gummi blocks he already had and the yellow gummi block sank into the lump and it glowed with a soft hue. A smile cracked across his face as he realized exactly what the lump's shape reminded him of. Lanzendorf came into view finally, and was charging at him with his riot shield and club out. Holding the gummi lump in one hand, he pointed the long end toward Lanzendorf and squeezed the blunt end. A fierce energy blast exploded from the gun and hit the ground to Lanzendorf's side, popping a massive mound of dirt into the air above him. He stopped in sheer terror and ran away without a second thought as the dirt rained down around him.

_Whoa-hoah!_ Engar thought to himself. _I got me a gummi-powered ray gun!_

Realizing the awesome power he just displayed and the possibility there was of someone seeing it and calling authorities, he quickly held the gun in a less conspicuous manner and kept running towards Scranton. His only worry was either Santiago or Ulric. Ulric is a powerhouse and is bred to adapt to any situation during a conflict, and Santiago is a master at setting cunning traps and using stealth to catch her prey. To make matters worse, after randomly running to escape the Anti-Barons' base, Engar wasn't the most informed person on where he was.

Left in Anti-Baron territory with no definite direction to escape in, it would require all of his intelligence to overcome this threat and return back to Scranton.

_I'm doing all this for a bunch of stupid gummi blocks! _he thought.


	12. The Home Stretch!

"Chapter 12: The Home Stretch!"

By: Agent Baron

Engar looked from side to side and danced in a circle. In the distance from the base, he heard thundering footsteps, undoubtedly Ulric's. Becoming nervous, he bolted away from the sound, deeper into the city. Pushing pedestrians out of the way, he frantically searched for a valuable hiding space.

_I gotta get him to pass me! I know he can run just as fast as I can!_ Engar thought to himself.

Noticing a small restaurant nearby, he ran around to the rear of the building and leapt into a near empty dumpster close by. The booming of Ulric's steps got louder as he became nearer to Engar's location. He sat quietly and waited for Ulric to pass, knowing his location by listening for his complaints.

"How could we have let such a worm pass by unnoticed?" Ulric ranted. "If I were nearby when he entered the complex, I would have noticed his stench in an instant, that fragile freebirth!"

After a moment or two, Ulric passed, and Engar peeped out from his hiding spot. Seeing no one nearby, he jumped out and ducked into another alley.

_Eh... eh... how can I find a way back to Scranton?! _Engar thought in a panic. _Uh, a map! I gotta get a map! But where?!_

Engar's instinct suddenly kicked in and he rolled to the side, dodging a vertical sword swipe from Lady Santiago. She wielded her hand and a half sword with grace and accuracy. Following up with a second swing, Engar jumped back into a roll and recovered quickly. Santiago loosed a battle cry and rushed Engar, as Engar did the same. As the two met, she attempted a thrust and Engar merely slapped the sword aside and hit her in the cheek bone with a hard right elbow, instantly knocking her out.

Just then, Ulric's footsteps vibrated the ground around him. Knowing he was close by, Engar ran back to the dumpster and leapt inside. Sitting there quietly, he heard Ulric approach. In a flash, the insides of the dumpster began to collapse on him as Ulric pulled the top down, sealing the entrance. He heard a arrogant chuckle escape Ulric. Pulling his gummi blaster from his pants waist, he shot in the rough direction of Ulric, blowing a hole in the wall of the dumpster. The small explosion's heat struck Engar for a moment, burning his shirt front and singing his pants. Ulric gave a loud shout stumbled backward, surprised. Shrapnel barely missed his head and he stood there, unsure of what to do for a moment.

Engar, noticing his clothing, was appalled.

"_You burned my clothes! I feel stupid now!_" he shouted, not caring how much sense he made.

He then forced his way through the hole he created and leapt at Ulric, screaming. Ulric quickly blocked the shot, his entire arm swatting Engar's torso away. Engar tumbled to the ground, but recovered quickly, sitcking the gummi blaster into his pants and charging Ulric again. Ulric attempted a side kick, but Engar rolled under his leg and sprang up, landing an uppercut onto Ulric. Ulric stepped back but was otherwise unfazed, and swatted Engar back down, causing him to fall on his back. As Ulric prepared for a quick stomp, Engar rolled to the side and punched Ulric's knee to the side, knocking him off-kilter and giving Engar a moment to thrust his head into Ulric's stomach as hard as he could. The behemoth wobbled backward, nearly falling. Returning his focus back to Engar, he noticed that he had all but disappeared.

Engar had swiftly jumped on top of the restaurant and began jumping across the alleys, across the rooftops of whatever buildings he could manage to get to. Reaching a dead end for structures, he leapt down to the ground at the dismay of many bystanding citizens and continued looking for a convenience store.

He was about to pull someone aside to ask when suddenly he noticed Lady Santiago approaching him from behind on a bicycle, holding a small device in her hand. Pointing it at him, he jumped up and completely out of the way, causing a man nearby him to be struck in his place. The man thrashed and fell to the ground on being stuck by the tether, screaming.

"Crap!" she spouted.

Kicking Santiago off her bicycle as she passed, Engar gathered that she was using a taser, and likely had more gadgets on her. With Ulric not far behind, Engar decided to run rather than pilch Santiago of her tools.

"_Gah!!!_" Engar cried aloud, realizing his predicament. "I have to get out of here!!!"

He ran into a nearby alley, taking turns at random in an attempt to lose Ulric.

"I see you, you rotten troll!" Ulric cried from behind.

Engar turned and looked upward to see Ulric leaping down from one of the nearby buildings' rooftops. He landed hard, Engar barely rolling out of the way. Ulric made a quick grab for him, but Engar swiftly scrambled to his feet and leapt back a bit. Ulric aggressively lumbered forward, Engar backing up nervously. A small car stopped behind him and out of it leapt Lanzendorf, pulling out with him a large riot shield. He peered up and saw Santiago standing atop the roof Ulric had presumably leapt from.

Engar looked around, unsure of what to do. Remembering the gummi blaster in his pocket, he reached to pull it out. Before he could aim it, Ulric brought his hand down on him hard, slamming him to the ground and causing him to drop it.

As the three Anti-Barons began to close in on him, Santiago suddenly fell to the ground as Baron Von Poorly Spelled Scranton jumped down from the rooftop on which she stood. Whoopsy-Daisies begun to flood into the alley from all directions. They easily overwhelmed Lanzendorf and trampled Santiago. They piled onto Ulric, who began ripping them off of him and tossing them aside. Distracted, the giant didn't see Scranton jumping up towards his head.

"_Stay down, you mammoth!_" he shouted, landing a punch directly into Ulric's face.

Having no more footroom, Ulric fell to the ground and the Whoopsie-Daisies piled on top of him.

Police sirens could be heard in the distance.

"Quick!" Scranton ordered. "We have to make an exit!"

The Whoopsie-Daisies picked up Lanzendorf and Santiago and tossed them over toward Ulric, who erupted from underneath them. He began to charge after Scranton when Scranton pointed the scooped the blaster from the ground beside Engar and aimed it directly at him. He stopped dead in his tracks and glared at Scranton.

"I'd suggest you leave unless you want me to put a crater where your ribcage is," Scranton said to him angrily. "These blocks are my property! _Mine!_ Remember that!" He fired a warning shot at the ground and popped a mound of dirt high into the air and causing Ulric to jerk in surprise while maintaing an angry stare.

The police sirens were very near. Looking around, Ulric stood down and picked up Lanzendorf and Santiago, jumping onto the rooftop and making for cover.

Engar stood up and brushed himself off. Clearing his throat, he looked around a brief moment, only to get smacked on the arm by Scranton.

"What are you waiting for, you fool?? We have to get out of here!" Scranton shouted at Engar.

"I was thinking that, you know!" Engar lied. "Which way do we go?"

"God, just follow me!" Scranton replied, smacking his forehead and running through the Whoopsie-Daisies, away from the direction the Anti-Barons ran. "You all stay here and smooth things out with the police!" he ordered the Whoopsie-Daisies over his shoulder.

Engar and Scranton ran a few blocks out and finally stopped to catch a breather. Scranton stared at Engar, while Engar stood hunched over, breathing heavily. After a moment or so, Engar stood up straight.

"I did it!" he said to Scranton happily.

Scranton shook his head in exasperation. "You did find some more, and I'm very impressed with the result, but did you have to get every Anti-Baron and the police involved?"

"Wasn't all of them, that wimpy guy East wasn't there," Engar replied casually.

"East? He doesn't even really count as one of them, as far as I'm concerned."

"Blarg. I don't know who called the police, though. Man, I'm glad you came in when you did! I kinda thought I was gonna have some trouble there--"

"That's enough. Come on, Engar. We have to get back to the headquarters until things die down out here."


	13. Complications

"Chapter 13: Complications"

By: Agent Baron

The Not Barons, now safe within the recesses of their headquarters, entered a large warehouse area where Engar saw what looked like a small orange space ship, resting on its side. It appeared close to completion as Whoopsie-Daisies scuttled around it, performing maintenance where necessary.

"The good thing is that while you were out looking for these things," Baron Von Poorly Spelled Scranton explained. "I also had other Whoopsie-Daisies searching, allowing us to accrue much more than enough to make a simple blaster out of."

"Simple? I think it's pretty neat," Baron Von Engar responded, waving the gun around.

Scranton nervously snatched the gun back and shook it at him.

"This isn't a toy, you fool! Anyway, yes. Judging by what happened to the ground when I shot it, it seems to only deal concussive hits. This is good, although it's still no reliable advantage over Ulric. I would prefer if this could burn a hole through Ulric's head instead of knock his block off. It'll have to do though."

"I like knocking people's blocks off! If you don't kill them, it means you can always come back and hit them again!"

"We're getting off-topic, Engar. I was going to say that I thought the Anti-Barons may notice the gummi blocks' ability to combine themselves, so that's why I sent the Whoopsie-Daisies out after the blocks as well. I've been combining them as I receive them, and it seems as though they all work harmoniously towards the shape of a ship of some sort. That would explain the blaster. It seems we have some vehicle-mountable weaponry in our hands."

"What do you want with a dumb old ship, anyway?"

"A tactical advantage, simply put. What will we have that neither the Baron Syndicate nor the Anti-Barons have? The power of flight. Engar, we have access to ordnance weaponry. With this, I intend to wait until a time when neither of them are around and then proceed to annihilate their base from the face of the earth all in one fell swoop! This will leave them with nothing! Then I'll finally be free to watch their resources bleed without the aid of their Oompa-Loompas or their high technology. This attack will surely ruin the Baron Syndicate, and any future it may hope to have."

"Hah!" Engar laughed. "We're finally gonna show them who's better!"

"Yes. Yes I will."

Scranton noticed a confused Whoopsie-Daisy and approached it.

"Why aren't you working?" he asked the large man.

"I can't find my gummi blocks... You know, a lot of the Whoopsie-Daisies have been noticing their gummi blocks missing, too. We really think Baron Von Engar's been taking them."

"That's a serious accusation. One I can believe, however. Though humor me; why would Baron Von Engar be stealing the company's gummi blocks?"

"Because he's Baron Von Engar. He does stupid stuff when he's given orders, and stupider stuff when he's not."

Baron Von Poorly Spelled Scranton nodded his head and approached Engar.

"Engar, the Whoopsie-Daisies are complaining about their gummi blocks disappearing. Do you know anything about it?"

"No. Why are you asking me?"

"Find out where they're going, or I'm blaming you anyway."

"That's kinda harsh, isn't it?"

"No, it's negative reinforcement. Go do it now!"

Engar scoffed and walked out of the warehouse and into a hall leading towards the break room.

I sure do a lot of stupid things around here, Engar thought. Go get gummi blocks, go find where they're going! I wish someone would just steal the dumb things. I'd rather take out the barons with my own two fists, but stupid authorities won't let me have a good fight!

"I guess I'll start by seeing if any Whoopsie-Daisies know about who's taking them," Engar said to himself as he entered the break room.

Engar scoffed and walked out of the warehouse and into a hall leading towards the break room. Stepping inside, he found three Whoopsie-Daisies watching television.

Inside the break room were three Whoopsie-Daisies sitting a tables watching television. Their antenna connection could barely produce a picture, but it was the HQ's best possible effort at cable. Scranton was not too enthralled with the idea of personal amusement while on as tight an agenda as his.

"Where are the missing gummi blocks?" Engar asked them.

"Shut up," one of them responded. "We're the ones who can't find them, stupid. Stop interrupting our show."

Engar sat in silence for a moment staring a hole through the Whoopsie-Daisy's head, then walked out of the room, picking up an unopened box of plastic forks. After a moment, he briskly walked back in and slapped the box as hard as he could against the back fo the offending Whoopsie-Daisy's head, throwing him out of his chair to his hands and knees and causing him to shout out in pain. He turned and looked behind him ferociously, but Engar had already fled the room.

The other two Whoopsie-Daisies chuckled.

Engar, satisfied, continued to march up and down the halls, interrogating the Whoopsie-Daisies. On moving past the building's back exit, however, he caught a glimpse of a gummi block on the floor, inside the door. He picked it up and opened the door, looking around outside only to see a partially filled dumpster to his side and the rest of the alley. Something caught his eye, however, as he stooped to the ground and noticed multiple large lumps of gummi blocks underneath it. Suddenly, he felt two large hands grasp him and slam him hard against the side of the building. His head cracked against it hard and he slumped to the ground instantly. Struggling to see, through his blurred vision he caught sight of a large man walking away alongside a second, multicolored man. It was then that he blacked out.

OIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

He woke up in a place he could not recognize. He found himself behind a large building, a dumpster to his right. Noticing that the door to the building was open, he quietly shut it and walked around to the front to get a glimpse of exactly where he was at. To his surprise, he had not actually left Baron Foundation property, and had somehow forgotten for a moment. Going into the headquarters, he sought out the break room once more and after getting a snack from the vending machine, sat down to watch television.

A few minutes pass when he suddenly heard Baron Von Poorly Spelled Scranton sharply ask from behind, "Engar, what are you doing?"

"I'm watching TV," he replied. "What's it look like I'm doing?"

"_You're supposed to be finding those gummi blocks!!!_"

"I already found your damn blocks, will you get off my case??? Did you forget we made a blaster out of them?"

"The blaster? Engar, what are--" Scranton started, when he noticed a droplet of blood clinging to Engar's earlobe.

Instructing Engar to hold still, he pulled up the hat attached to his mask and noticed a small spot of hair matted to his head with blood, running down the side of his head.

"Damn it... Engar, what happened outside?" he asked.

"Outside? I didn't go outside... I think. I just remember coming back here and seeing the ship, and then I came to watch TV."

"Engar, I think you somehow got a concussion. Go dress up your wound and sit down for a bit."

"I just remember coming back here and seeing the ship, and then I came to watch TV..."

"Yes, I know that. Go dress your wound."

Engar confusedly got up and left the room at a plodding pace.

Scranton firmly marched to the production room where the gummi ship was being built and rallied the nearby Whoopsie-Daisies.

"Alright, listen up," he instructed them. "Baron Von Engar has a concussion, so it is safe to assume he was attacked. If any of you have any information at all on how this happened, then speak now. Otherwise, continue work, but keep an eye out for any suspicious activity."

The Whoopsie-Daisies grumbled unanimously in response and resumed working. Just then, the windows near the ceiling all grew dim, and low rumbling was heard outside.

"Damn it! Another storm! This will cut back our production," Scranton griped to himself, and turned to the workers. "Unplug our machines, we can't risk a power surge."

The Whoopsie-Daisies let out a grumble of dissatisfaction and followed his command as suddenly, a flood of Whoopsie-Daisies came tearing into the production room in a frenzy. Behind them followed many black spots that ran along the ground in seemingly predetermined paths.

Once in the room, small black humanoid creatures sprouted from the spots, their only features being small, yellow circular eyes and two crooked antannae.

"What the hell is the meaning of this?!" Scranton shouted.

"Those things aren't what they look like!" one of the Whoopsie-Daisies shouted. "They're doing something to everyone and making them pass out of something! We can't even hurt them!"

"What? You all are worthless!" Scranton berated them as a creature approached him.

Scranton planted his fist into the top of the creature's head, causing it to splat to the ground in a crumpled heap. Almost immediately, it slowly stood back up. Scranton grabbed it and drove it into the ground using brute force a few times and to his dismay, it again stood back up.

_What the...?_ Scranton thought to himself.

Suddenly, a Whoopsie-Daisy bellowed and Scranton darted his attention to it, seeing one of the creatures attacking it by jumping onto its chest and burrowing inside through a dark hole it created. A bright heart was pulled from it and shadows dripped from it to the ground. The heart itself disappeared while the darkness that poured from it manifested into a different creature, also humanoid but a bit larger and wearing armor. It then began running around, joining the other creatures in their attack.

Scranton noticed one of the small gremlins on him, trying to burrow into his chest and easily slapped it off. He looked toward the door and noticed an endless torrent of these entities pouring inside. They were all over the room, in the walls, the ceiling, and pulsating across the floor in dark silence. All that could be heard were the horrified shouts of the Whoopsie-Daisies and their hearts being extracted.

Scranton watched in horror as we was surrounded by the creatures with no apparent way of escape. As they all leapt upon him, he felt their pressure pushing him toward the ground, but his strength allowed him to stand his ground. He thrashed, but the creatures wouldn't let go. Just then, he felt them being ripped off, and when his vision was clear, he saw Engar beating at them as they tried to stand up using his fists.

"Engar, we have to get out of here," Scranton told him as he ripped off the remaining creatures.

"What do you mean?" he asked in reply.

"These creatures aren't killing anyone through conventional means and they clearly can't be destroyed. They're wiping out the Whoopsie-Daisies and there are too many to contain. They're even replicating... We have no choice but to escape."

"How?"

Scranton looked toward the gummi ship.

"It's not tested, but it's our only chance. If my guess is correct, those things are crawling around the building. They've been coming in here almost nonstop."

"What about the others?"

"What _about_ the others?" Why do you care?"

"...Why _do_ I care? Come on, let's go!"

The two not barons fought their way through the sea of darkness towards the gummi ship, but not far from it, they suddenly heard its engine start to chug.

Without thinking for more than a moment's time, Scranton gave Engar a boost as he jumped up toward the cockpit window. As Enger landed on the nose of the ship, he looked inside to see a lone Whoopsy-Daisy trying to use it as an escape. Engar looked down at him and crossed his arms, shaking his head. The Whoopsie-Daisy stared back in surprise when suddenly, Scranton popped up behind him and hurled him back down and out of the ship.

Scranton put the ship into gear as Engar leapt back down to the ground and climbed into the ship. He noticed a few Whoopsie-Daisies trying to climb in after him. He watched them climb steadily, as the creatures were in hot pursuit. Just as they reached the entrance hatch, Engar closed it on the ladder, breaking it off and denying them entry. He then laughed at them insidiously. And joined Scranton in the cockpit.

"Engar, you just broke our main means of climbing in and out of the ship," Scranton told him.

"Whoopsie-Daisies were trying to get in! It was easier that way."

"I don't feel like arguing with you right now, Engar, just shut up."

Scranton, after briefly examining the disturbingly well-labeled controls, turned on the shields and slammed the ship's throttle, crashing it through the wall of the building and depleting a good sum of their shields' energy. He then piloted the ship into the air and looked down on the city in shock. The entire vicinity was in ruins with creatures skittering everywhere. A ways away, he saw a large black creature with tentacles all about its head, punching at the ground.

"What... is going on here???" Scranton asked in disbelief.

"I'd say it's the rapture," Engar commented.

"What are you talking about?"

"Idunno, it's something those religious folks talk about."

"Engar, we're clearly being invaded by some kind of alien menace."

Suddenly, the huge monster glowed a bright light and began to float into the air and through a portal, whereupon everything began sucking into it like vacuum. A small group of people, along with various other creatures were sucked through, and it was then that Scranton noticed his own ship moving closer.

"Engar, brace yourself! We'll be experiencing some turbulence!" Scranton commanded, spinning the ship around and hitting the throttle once more. The portal's suction barely overpower the srength of the ship.

The ship inched closer and closer to the void until suddenly there was a bright flash, a loud bang, and finally nothing. Scranton noticed the ship no longer meeting any resistance and lessened the throttle. Looking around through the cockpit window, he could not find where the planet was.

"Where did the planet go?" he asked himself.

"You don't suppose it disappeared, do you?" Engar asked.

"Huh..." Scranton grunted in response. "I... I really don't know Engar."


End file.
